11,428 Shares in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has acquired a new stake in UGI Corporation, purchasing 11,428 shares valued at approximately $378,000 in the first quarter.
• UGI Corporation reported a Q1 earnings per share of ($0.01), exceeding the consensus estimate of ($0.12), with a quarterly revenue of $1.39 billion, below expectations of $1.77 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375, indicating an annualized dividend yield of 4.3%, with a payout ratio of 78.95%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in UGI by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,529,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $325,469,000 after buying an additional 2,110,337 shares in the last quarter. Corvex Management LP purchased a new stake in UGI in the fourth quarter worth about $55,354,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in UGI by 5,215.3% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,560,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,911 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in UGI by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,366,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,806,000 after acquiring an additional 795,093 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC raised its holdings in UGI by 236.8% during the fourth quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,025,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,936,000 after acquiring an additional 720,700 shares during the period. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut UGI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th.

UGI Price Performance

UGI stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.99. 203,413 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,961,191. The stock's fifty day moving average is $35.93 and its 200-day moving average is $34.04. UGI Corporation has a 12 month low of $23.14 and a 12 month high of $37.42. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. UGI had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. UGI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.95%.

About UGI

UGI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream & Marketing, and UGI Utilities. It distributes propane to approximately 1.3 million residential, commercial/industrial, motor fuel, agricultural, and wholesale customers through 1,400 propane distribution locations.