Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Stock Price Breaks Below 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $5.91 and traded as low as $5.78. Ultrapar Participacoes shares last traded at $5.80, with a volume of 3,776,191 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UGP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Ultrapar Participacoes from $6.50 to $5.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Bank of America upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “sector outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.20 to $7.90 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ultrapar Participacoes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.54.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.71.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $8.18 billion. Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 2.28%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were paid a $0.1932 dividend. This represents a yield of 599.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 26th. Ultrapar Participacoes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pedro Guedes Rabelo sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.58, for a total transaction of $227,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,898 shares in the company, valued at $438,866.84. This represents a 34.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Decio De Sampaio Amaral sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.93, for a total transaction of $55,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,423.76. This represents a 5.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,785 shares of company stock valued at $587,312. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultrapar Participacoes

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 419.7% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 257,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 208,319 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 650,988 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in the 2nd quarter worth $6,704,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.6% in 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 buying an additional 357,922 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ultrapar Participacoes in the third quarter valued at $2,733,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian holding company whose businesses focus on fuel distribution, liquefied petroleum gas and transportation infrastructure. Through its subsidiaries, the company serves commercial, industrial, retail and residential customers, primarily in Brazil.

Ipiranga is Ultrapar’s fuel-distribution business, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and other fuels through a network of service stations and commercial channels. Ultragaz distributes liquefied petroleum gas for household, commercial and industrial use, including bottled and bulk products.

Ultrapar also operates Ultracargo, a provider of liquid bulk storage and transportation infrastructure for fuels, chemicals and other products.