Man Group plc Has $872,000 Position in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Man Group plc cut its position in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) by 82.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 148,139 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in UGI were worth $872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in UGI by 216.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 893 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in UGI during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new stake in UGI during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. S.A. Mason LLC bought a new stake in UGI during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UGI during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on UGI shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of UGI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $35.44. 257,418 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,073,608. UGI Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $36.35. The stock's fifty day moving average is $33.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.05. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. UGI's payout ratio is 61.73%.

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.