Vista Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in UGI Corporation $UGI

Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UGI during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in UGI by 45.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in UGI during the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in UGI in the second quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of UGI stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 575,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,910,865. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.11. UGI Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.62 and a fifty-two week high of $41.34. The firm has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38 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 data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. On average, analysts forecast that UGI Corporation will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.3750 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s payout ratio is 50.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Huntington assumed coverage on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.80.

UGI Profile

UGI Corporation is a diversified energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Through its subsidiaries, the company distributes and markets natural gas, propane, electricity and related energy products to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

UGI Utilities operates regulated natural gas and electric distribution businesses in Pennsylvania and provides natural gas, electric and related services to customers in the region. The company also owns AmeriGas, one of the largest retail propane distributors in the United States, serving households, businesses, agricultural customers and other end users through a nationwide distribution network.

UGI has additional energy operations in Europe through its international LPG businesses and participates in energy marketing, midstream and related activities.