Vista Investment Partners LLC Purchases 18,564 Shares of UGI Corporation $UGI

Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 18,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of UGI by 80.1% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in UGI in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in 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. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in UGI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in UGI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Price Performance

UGI traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.03. 575,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,910,865. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.93. UGI Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.62 and a 1 year high of $41.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.11.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.3750 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is 50.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on UGI shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on UGI in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.80.

About UGI

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.