UGI (NYSE:UGI) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on UGI. Weiss Ratings cut UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Huntington assumed coverage on UGI in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on UGI in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UGI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.80.

UGI Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE UGI opened at $37.10 on Friday. UGI has a 12-month low of $31.62 and a 12-month high of $41.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.93. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.13.

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

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.3750 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UGI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in UGI by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,456,000 after acquiring an additional 327,511 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of UGI during the second quarter worth $73,069,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of UGI by 75.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,335,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,130,000 after purchasing an additional 575,239 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 1.5% in the second quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,302,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,985,000 after purchasing an additional 18,808 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 10.8% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,057,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,539,000 after purchasing an additional 103,470 shares during the period. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.