The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Price Target to $5.80

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $6.50 to $5.80 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential downside of 9.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UGP. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.00 to $7.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Bank of America raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.40.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

Ultrapar Participacoes stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $6.42. 1,617,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,019,010. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ultrapar Participacoes has a twelve month low of $3.35 and a twelve month high of $6.80. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.57.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.18 billion. Equities analysts expect that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UGP. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 42,357.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,147,914 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,098,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142,855 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Ultrapar Participacoes by 306.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,796,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108,543 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,214,612 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $15,889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087,852 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in Ultrapar Participacoes in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,876,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 131.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,890,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,562 shares during the last quarter. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

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.