UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on UGI, with five buy ratings, one hold, and one sell among seven analysts. The average 12-month price target is $45.75, above the stock’s reported price of $37.85.
• Recent analyst views were mixed: Jefferies upgraded UGI to buy with a $43 target, while Huntington initiated coverage with an outperform rating and a $54 target; Zacks Research downgraded the stock to strong sell.
• UGI declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, equating to an annualized $1.50 payout and a 4.0% yield. The company’s latest quarter missed expectations, reporting an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share versus the anticipated $0.08 loss and revenue of $1.33 billion versus $1.50 billion expected.

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.75.

Several brokerages have recently commented on UGI. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UGI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Zacks Research downgraded UGI from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Huntington began coverage on UGI in a research report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut UGI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised UGI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UGI news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of UGI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $852,603.20. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UGI. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in UGI by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 724 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UGI in the second quarter worth $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of UGI by 45.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of UGI during the second quarter worth $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in UGI during the second quarter valued at $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company's stock.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock opened at $37.85 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $36.89 and its 200 day moving average is $36.11. UGI has a 1-year low of $31.62 and a 1-year high of $41.34. 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 cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.94.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%. Research analysts predict that UGI will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. UGI's payout ratio is 50.17%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.