Legal & General Group Plc Invests $12.41 Million in UGI Corporation $UGI

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 359,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,408,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.17% of UGI as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in UGI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of UGI by 45.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of UGI in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in shares of UGI in the 4th quarter worth $75,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of UGI in the second quarter worth $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on UGI. Zacks Research downgraded UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,603.20. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

UGI Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:UGI opened at $38.42 on Tuesday. UGI Corporation has a one year low of $31.62 and a one year high of $41.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. UGI had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.80%. Sell-side analysts forecast that UGI Corporation will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 50.17%.

UGI Profile

UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) is a publicly traded energy distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, UGI has grown into a diversified provider of energy products and services. The company’s operations are organized into three primary segments—AmeriGas Propane, UGI Utilities and UGI International—each focused on the delivery of propane, natural gas and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

AmeriGas Propane, UGI’s largest segment, is the leading retail propane distributor in the United States with a network of dealers serving customers in all 50 states.