Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Ultrapar Participacoes, with four hold ratings and three buys; the average 12-month price target is $6.54, below the stock’s $7.13 opening price.
• Recent analyst views were mixed: Scotiabank downgraded the stock to hold, while UBS and Bank of America upgraded it to buy and Goldman Sachs lowered its price target to $5.80.
• Insiders have been selling shares: the CEO and CFO sold stock in September, and insiders have sold 77,785 shares worth approximately $587,000 over the past 90 days. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.28 slightly exceeded estimates, while revenue came in below expectations.

Shares of Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.54.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UGP. Scotiabank cut Ultrapar Participacoes from a "sector outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.20 to $7.90 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $6.50 to $5.80 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultrapar Participacoes

In other news, CEO Decio De Sampaio Amaral sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.93, for a total transaction of $55,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,049,423.76. This trade represents a 5.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andre Saleme Hachem sold 39,200 shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.67, for a total value of $300,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 25,675 shares in the company, valued at $196,927.25. The trade was a 60.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,785 shares of company stock valued at $587,312. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participacoes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UGP. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 419.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 257,957 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 208,319 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the second quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,704,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 62,497 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.58% of the company's stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Performance

UGP opened at $7.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 1-year low of $3.60 and a 1-year high of $7.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.93.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 2.28%.The company had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.18 billion. Research analysts predict that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a $0.1932 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a yield of 599.0%. Ultrapar Participacoes's payout ratio is 50.82%.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian holding company with operations focused on fuel distribution, liquefied petroleum gas and bulk liquid storage. The company traces its origins to 1937, when it was established as Companhia Brasileira de Gás a Domicílio, the predecessor of Ultragaz. Ultrapar's American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UGP.

Its principal businesses include Ipiranga, a fuel distribution company that supplies gasoline, ethanol, diesel and other fuels through a nationwide network of service stations.

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