Apella Capital LLC Makes New $540,000 Investment in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of UGI by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 108,531.6% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 20,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 20,621 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of UGI by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 606,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,067,000 after buying an additional 10,865 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UGI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its position in shares of UGI by 183,375.0% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 14,670 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.56. 1,077,310 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,122,245. The stock has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $33.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.73. UGI Co. has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $36.55.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $2.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. UGI had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 15.19%. The firm's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UGI Co. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. UGI's payout ratio is 61.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on UGI shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of UGI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

UGI Profile

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.