Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Stock Moved Up to “Strong-Buy” by Zacks Research

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.20 to $7.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Scotiabank downgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “sector outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Ultrapar Participacoes from $6.50 to $5.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.54.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

Shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $7.79. The stock had a trading volume of 3,525,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,693,848. The firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.71. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 12 month low of $3.60 and a 12 month high of $8.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.15 and its 200 day moving average is $6.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.18 billion. Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 2.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultrapar Participacoes

In other news, CEO Decio De Sampaio Amaral sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.93, for a total transaction of $55,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,423.76. This trade represents a 5.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pedro Guedes Rabelo sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.58, for a total value of $227,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,898 shares in the company, valued at $438,866.84. This trade represents a 34.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 77,785 shares of company stock worth $587,312 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultrapar Participacoes

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,740,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $20,611,000 after acquiring an additional 357,922 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Ultrapar Participacoes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,704,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 945,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 282,887 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 235.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 927,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,109,000 after purchasing an additional 650,988 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 4.6% in the first quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 915,468 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,044,000 after purchasing an additional 40,586 shares during the last quarter. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian holding company with operations focused on energy, fuel distribution and logistics. Through its businesses, the company supplies fuels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and related services to consumers, commercial customers and industrial clients.

Its principal businesses include Ipiranga, one of Brazil’s major fuel distribution companies, and Ultragaz, which distributes LPG for residential, commercial and industrial use. Ultrapar also owns Ultracargo, a provider of storage and handling services for liquid bulk products, including fuels, chemicals and other industrial materials.

Ultrapar’s operations are concentrated primarily in Brazil, with activities supported by distribution networks, terminals and storage infrastructure across key regions of the country.