Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 167,072 Shares of UGI Corporation $UGI

Squarepoint Ops LLC lessened its stake in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 512,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 167,072 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in UGI were worth $17,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UGI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of UGI by 9.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 6,649 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of UGI by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,781,000 after purchasing an additional 116,372 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in UGI by 17.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 785,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,971,000 after purchasing an additional 115,409 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in UGI by 92.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 10,861 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UGI by 15.6% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 3,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UGI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Weiss Ratings lowered UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research downgraded UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UGI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity at UGI

In other news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

UGI Stock Up 0.8%

UGI opened at $38.59 on Thursday. UGI Corporation has a 1-year low of $31.62 and a 1-year high of $41.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.94.

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 company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that UGI Corporation will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is 50.17%.

About UGI

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.