Meritage Portfolio Management Invests $5.18 Million in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI)

Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 156,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,176,000. Meritage Portfolio Management owned approximately 0.07% of UGI at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UGI. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in UGI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in UGI by 216.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 893 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in UGI in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in UGI during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new position in UGI during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UGI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded UGI from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Mizuho lifted their target price on UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

UGI Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of UGI stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.16. 1,497,459 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,077,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.34 and a 200-day moving average of $32.75. UGI Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $36.74.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.41. UGI had a return on equity of 16.21% and a net margin of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $2.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UGI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.73%.

About UGI

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.