UGI (NYSE:UGI) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Huntington

Key Points

• Huntington initiated coverage of UGI with an “outperform” rating and a $54 price target, implying approximately 41.84% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: UGI has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $45.75 from seven analysts.
• UGI shares recently traded at $38.07, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, reporting an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share versus the $0.08 loss analysts expected.

Analysts at Huntington began coverage on shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Huntington's price target would suggest a potential upside of 41.84% from the stock's previous close.

UGI has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised UGI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UGI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of UGI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of UGI from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UGI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.75.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock traded up $0.08 on Monday, reaching $38.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 32,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,955. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.11. UGI has a 52-week low of $31.62 and a 52-week high of $41.34.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Analysts expect that UGI will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UGI

In related news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of UGI stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total value of $852,603.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UGI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 9.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 6,649 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in UGI by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,781,000 after buying an additional 116,372 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in UGI by 17.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 785,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,971,000 after purchasing an additional 115,409 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 10,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in UGI by 15.6% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company's stock.

About UGI

UGI Corporation NYSE: UGI is an energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882, the company operates through businesses that distribute and market natural gas, electricity, propane and other energy products.

Through UGI Utilities, the company provides regulated natural gas and electric service to customers in parts of Pennsylvania and regulated natural gas service in parts of Maryland. UGI also operates energy marketing, midstream and storage businesses that supply natural gas and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers.

UGI is also involved in propane distribution through AmeriGas, which serves customers across the United States, and through international propane operations serving customers in parts of Europe.

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