Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.40 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.40.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:UGP opened at $5.00 on Friday. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 12 month low of $2.64 and a 12 month high of $5.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.15.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.01). Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 2.13%.The company had revenue of $6.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ultrapar Participacoes by 42.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,695,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,841,000 after acquiring an additional 803,065 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 1,248.8% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 497,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 460,388 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 54.1% during the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 411,999 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 144,685 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 39.6% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 616,345 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 174,818 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,084,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,205,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Company 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.