Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC Takes $215,000 Position in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. FMR LLC increased its position in UGI by 42.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,418,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,660,000 after buying an additional 2,786,878 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in UGI by 2,050.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,375,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,067,000 after acquiring an additional 2,265,300 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in UGI by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202,938 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UGI by 47.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,503,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,630,000 after purchasing an additional 808,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of UGI by 105.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,507,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,712,000 after purchasing an additional 774,770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of UGI in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upgraded UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.33.

UGI Stock Performance

NYSE UGI opened at $33.03 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.82. UGI Co. has a 1 year low of $22.01 and a 1 year high of $33.11.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 7.73%. Analysts predict that UGI Co. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.06%.

UGI Company Profile

UGI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream & Marketing, and UGI Utilities. It distributes propane to approximately 1.3 million residential, commercial/industrial, motor fuel, agricultural, and wholesale customers through 1,400 propane distribution locations.