UGI (NYSE:UGI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

UGI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Huntington started coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UGI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.80.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UGI opened at $38.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 0.93. UGI has a 52-week low of $31.65 and a 52-week high of $41.34.

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

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.3750 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UGI

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in UGI in the second quarter worth about $73,069,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 75.7% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 1.5% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 10.8% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 662,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,875,000 after purchasing an additional 69,054 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. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, it has developed into an operator and distributor of energy businesses serving residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

Through UGI Utilities, the company distributes natural gas and provides electric utility service in parts of Pennsylvania. Its other operations include natural gas marketing, midstream services and energy-related activities in the United States, along with propane distribution through AmeriGas and liquefied petroleum gas distribution in Europe through UGI International.

UGI’s businesses serve customers across the United States and selected European markets.