JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Position in Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. $UGP

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) by 117.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,084,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,205,282 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.37% of Ultrapar Participacoes worth $16,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Ultrapar Participacoes during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes in the second quarter worth $56,000. Plan A Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 32.4% during the third quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 14,056 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438 shares during the last quarter. Laurion Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the third quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 100.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 11,461 shares during the period. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participacoes Trading Up 2.2%

UGP opened at $5.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.85. Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.70 and a 12 month high of $5.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.29.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.01). Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 1.72% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UGP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $3.10 to $5.60 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.40 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Ultrapar Participacoes Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian diversified holding company operating in the downstream energy and chemical sectors. Its Ipiranga unit runs one of Brazil’s largest networks of fuel stations, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and convenience-store products to retail and wholesale customers. Through Ultragaz, the company is a leading distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), offering cylinder and bulk gas solutions for residential, commercial and industrial use across urban and rural regions.

In the specialty chemicals arena, Ultrapar controls Oxiteno, which produces surfactants and specialty chemical formulations for industries such as personal care, oil and gas, agrochemicals and coatings.