Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases Shares of 304,423 UGI Corporation $UGI

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 304,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,515,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.14% of UGI at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UGI in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,961,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of UGI during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,949,000. Csenge Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of UGI during the second quarter worth $1,014,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of UGI in the second quarter valued at $3,537,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 75.7% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,335,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,130,000 after purchasing an additional 575,239 shares during the period. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at UGI

In other news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

UGI Stock Performance

UGI stock opened at $38.18 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $35.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.11. UGI Corporation has a 12-month low of $31.62 and a 12-month high of $41.34. The firm has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UGI Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. UGI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on UGI. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UGI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded UGI from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded UGI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UGI currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.00.

About UGI

UGI Corporation NYSE: UGI is a publicly traded energy distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, UGI has grown into a diversified provider of energy products and services. The company's operations are organized into three primary segments—AmeriGas Propane, UGI Utilities and UGI International—each focused on the delivery of propane, natural gas and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

AmeriGas Propane, UGI's largest segment, is the leading retail propane distributor in the United States with a network of dealers serving customers in all 50 states.

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