Analysts Set UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) PT at $42.00

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research lowered UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of UGI 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of UGI by 3,298.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,565,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $295,862,000 after buying an additional 8,313,708 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in UGI by 34,940.4% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,576,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,824,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568,817 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in UGI during the second quarter worth about $73,069,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $46,130,000 after acquiring an additional 575,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of UGI in the 2nd quarter worth about $12,408,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Price Performance

UGI opened at $38.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.10. UGI has a 12-month low of $31.62 and a 12-month high of $41.34. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UGI will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.17%.

About UGI

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.