VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 122,200 UGI Corporation $UGI

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 122,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,221,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of UGI by 3,298.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,565,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,862,000 after acquiring an additional 8,313,708 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in UGI by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,456,000 after purchasing an additional 327,511 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in UGI during the second quarter valued at about $73,069,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $46,130,000 after purchasing an additional 575,239 shares during the period. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in UGI by 1.5% in the second quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,302,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,985,000 after buying an additional 18,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock opened at $38.59 on Thursday. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.62 and a 12 month high of $41.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.67 and a 200 day moving average of $36.11. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.94.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). UGI had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, research analysts expect that UGI Corporation will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UGI news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of UGI stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total value of $852,603.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on UGI shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.