UGI (NYSE:UGI) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

UGI (NYSE:UGI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on UGI. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of UGI in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.33.

UGI Trading Up 1.7%

UGI opened at $33.00 on Monday. UGI has a twelve month low of $31.62 and a twelve month high of $41.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.43 and a 200-day moving average of $36.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.96.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 8.71%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UGI will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 103.8% in the third quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 1,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new position in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 2,455.7% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About UGI

UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) is a publicly traded energy distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, UGI has grown into a diversified provider of energy products and services. The company’s operations are organized into three primary segments—AmeriGas Propane, UGI Utilities and UGI International—each focused on the delivery of propane, natural gas and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

AmeriGas Propane, UGI’s largest segment, is the leading retail propane distributor in the United States with a network of dealers serving customers in all 50 states.