Wesbanco Bank Inc. Buys Shares of 6,789 UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in UGI. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in UGI by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 18,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in UGI by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Hourglass Capital LLC raised its position in UGI by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 82,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC raised its position in UGI by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 27,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UGI Stock Performance

NYSE:UGI opened at $36.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.06. UGI Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $37.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.81.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. UGI had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 15.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that UGI Co. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

UGI 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.