UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.75.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Huntington began coverage on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings cut UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of UGI during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of UGI by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in UGI in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in UGI during the second quarter valued at $71,000. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UGI Stock Down 0.9%

UGI stock opened at $36.90 on Wednesday. UGI has a twelve month low of $31.62 and a twelve month high of $41.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.12). UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that UGI will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.17%.

UGI Company Profile

UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) is an energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882, the company operates through businesses that distribute and market natural gas, electricity, propane and other energy products.

Through UGI Utilities, the company provides regulated natural gas and electric service to customers in parts of Pennsylvania and regulated natural gas service in parts of Maryland. UGI also operates energy marketing, midstream and storage businesses that supply natural gas and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers.

UGI is also involved in propane distribution through AmeriGas, which serves customers across the United States, and through international propane operations serving customers in parts of Europe.