UGI Corporation (UGI) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.80.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UGI. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of 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 research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Huntington began coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock opened at $38.46 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.26 and its 200 day moving average is $36.17. UGI has a one year low of $31.65 and a one year high of $41.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.93.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. UGI had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.80%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UGI will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3750 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 50.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in UGI by 80.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UGI during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in UGI in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of UGI by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of UGI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Company Profile

UGI Corporation is a diversified energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Through its subsidiaries, the company distributes and markets natural gas, propane, electricity and related energy products to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

UGI Utilities operates regulated natural gas and electric distribution businesses in Pennsylvania and provides natural gas, electric and related services to customers in the region. The company also owns AmeriGas, one of the largest retail propane distributors in the United States, serving households, businesses, agricultural customers and other end users through a nationwide distribution network.

UGI has additional energy operations in Europe through its international LPG businesses and participates in energy marketing, midstream and related activities.