Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down to $5.28

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $5.28, but opened at $4.85. Ultrapar Participações shares last traded at $4.76, with a volume of 715,460 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UGP shares. Itau BBA Securities downgraded Ultrapar Participações from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ultrapar Participações from $5.30 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.37.

Ultrapar Participações Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 18.86%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participações S.A. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participações Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.0723 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Ultrapar Participações’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 2%. Ultrapar Participações’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.11%.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participações

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UGP. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ultrapar Participações by 254.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,796 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Ultrapar Participações by 36.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,757 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,337 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,281 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participações in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 89,534 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 10,445 shares during the period. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participações Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.