Kendall Capital Management Boosts Stake in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Kendall Capital Management increased its position in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) by 43.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,865 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in UGI were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UGI. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in UGI by 33.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 203,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,087,000 after acquiring an additional 50,485 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in UGI by 42.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,418,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,878 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in UGI by 35.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,227,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,718,000 after acquiring an additional 318,655 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in UGI during the third quarter worth approximately $645,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in UGI by 254.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 181,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,138,000 after acquiring an additional 130,407 shares during the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UGI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on UGI in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Sharp acquired 4,806 shares of UGI stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.30 per share, for a total transaction of $160,039.80. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,039.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UGI Trading Up 0.6 %

UGI opened at $33.04 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.45. UGI Co. has a one year low of $22.01 and a one year high of $34.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.00.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 7.73%. On average, equities analysts forecast that UGI Co. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

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