UGI (NYSE:UGI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

UGI (NYSE:UGI) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank started coverage on UGI in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.80.

UGI Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:UGI opened at $37.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.44. UGI has a fifty-two week low of $31.62 and a fifty-two week high of $41.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.13.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%. Analysts predict that UGI will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of UGI by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,456,000 after purchasing an additional 327,511 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in UGI during the second quarter valued at $73,069,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in UGI by 75.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,335,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,130,000 after purchasing an additional 575,239 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its holdings in UGI by 1.5% during the second quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,302,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,985,000 after purchasing an additional 18,808 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in UGI by 10.8% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,057,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,539,000 after purchasing an additional 103,470 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Company Profile

UGI Corporation is a diversified energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Through its subsidiaries, the company distributes and markets natural gas, propane, electricity and related energy products to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

UGI Utilities operates regulated natural gas and electric distribution businesses in Pennsylvania and provides natural gas, electric and related services to customers in the region. The company also owns AmeriGas, one of the largest retail propane distributors in the United States, serving households, businesses, agricultural customers and other end users through a nationwide distribution network.

UGI has additional energy operations in Europe through its international LPG businesses and participates in energy marketing, midstream and related activities.