Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys New Shares in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. has invested approximately $260,000 in UGI Corporation by acquiring 7,859 shares in the first quarter.
• UGI Corporation reported a net margin of 5.70% and revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, although it fell short of analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, yielding 4.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of UGI by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,529,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $325,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,337 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of UGI by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 61,471 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,687,000 after buying an additional 7,933 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of UGI during the fourth quarter worth about $5,155,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of UGI by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,216,583 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,344,000 after buying an additional 313,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in UGI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,820,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

UGI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UGI traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.24. The company had a trading volume of 687,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,539. UGI Corporation has a twelve month low of $23.14 and a twelve month high of $37.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

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

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.