Foster & Motley Inc. Boosts Stock Position in UGI Corporation $UGI

Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) by 9.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 180,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,211 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in UGI were worth $6,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of UGI by 34,940.4% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,576,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,824,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568,817 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,781,000 after purchasing an additional 116,372 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of UGI by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 785,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,971,000 after purchasing an additional 115,409 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in UGI in the 4th quarter worth about $2,708,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in UGI by 234.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 95,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,178,000 after purchasing an additional 66,946 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Stock Up 0.7%

UGI opened at $35.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.75. UGI Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.62 and a twelve month high of $41.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 8.71%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UGI Corporation will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 52.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on UGI shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of UGI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UGI news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total value of $852,603.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

UGI Profile

UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) is a publicly traded energy distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, UGI has grown into a diversified provider of energy products and services. The company’s operations are organized into three primary segments—AmeriGas Propane, UGI Utilities and UGI International—each focused on the delivery of propane, natural gas and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

AmeriGas Propane, UGI’s largest segment, is the leading retail propane distributor in the United States with a network of dealers serving customers in all 50 states.