Entropy Technologies LP Cuts Stock Position in UGI Corporation $UGI

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP reduced its UGI stake by 90.5% in the first quarter, selling 65,513 shares and retaining 6,839 shares worth approximately $249,000. Institutional investors collectively own 82.34% of UGI.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $43.33, although ratings range from “Strong Buy” to “Strong Sell.”
• UGI reported quarterly earnings of $2.09 per share, slightly below estimates, while revenue also missed forecasts. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, representing a 4.1% annualized yield.

Entropy Technologies LP cut its position in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) by 90.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,839 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 65,513 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in UGI were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UGI. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in UGI by 234.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 95,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,178,000 after buying an additional 66,946 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in UGI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,696,000. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in UGI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,748,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of UGI by 9.2% during the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 180,398 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,570,000 after acquiring an additional 15,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of UGI by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $119,456,000 after acquiring an additional 327,511 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UGI news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $852,603.20. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UGI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of UGI from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of UGI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.33.

UGI Price Performance

UGI opened at $36.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $35.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.42. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 0.93. UGI Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.62 and a 1 year high of $41.34.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. UGI had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that UGI Corporation will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. UGI's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.63%.

UGI Company Profile

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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