Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Price Target Raised to $7.20

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $7.00 to $7.20 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 52.06% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $3.10 to $5.60 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $4.90 to $6.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.05.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

Ultrapar Participacoes stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,786,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,724,243. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.94. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 12 month low of $2.80 and a 12 month high of $6.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $6.19 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultrapar Participacoes

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,214,612 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $15,889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087,852 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 117.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,084,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,205,282 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 357,922 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Ultrapar Participacoes in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,639,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,890,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian diversified holding company operating in the downstream energy and chemical sectors. Its Ipiranga unit runs one of Brazil’s largest networks of fuel stations, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and convenience-store products to retail and wholesale customers. Through Ultragaz, the company is a leading distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), offering cylinder and bulk gas solutions for residential, commercial and industrial use across urban and rural regions.

In the specialty chemicals arena, Ultrapar controls Oxiteno, which produces surfactants and specialty chemical formulations for industries such as personal care, oil and gas, agrochemicals and coatings.