UGI Corporation $UGI Shares Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in UGI Corporation by 17.9%, acquiring an additional 43,342 shares, bringing its total ownership to 284,927 shares valued at approximately $9.42 million.
• UGI recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, yielding about 4.3%, with payments scheduled for October 1st, following a record date of September 15th.
• Current analysts' ratings on UGI indicate a Moderate Buy consensus, with a mixed outlook as some firms upgraded their targets while others adjusted ratings downwards.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) by 17.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 284,927 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,342 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.13% of UGI worth $9,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in UGI by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,037,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $133,524,000 after purchasing an additional 251,311 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in UGI by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,002,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,988,000 after purchasing an additional 703,491 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in UGI by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,987,818 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $98,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,553 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in UGI by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,592,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $85,726,000 after purchasing an additional 56,777 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in UGI by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,366,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $66,806,000 after buying an additional 795,093 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on UGI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UGI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of UGI to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UGI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.33.

UGI Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of UGI stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.12. The company had a trading volume of 695,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,929,601. The company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average is $35.54 and its 200-day moving average is $34.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. UGI Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $23.14 and a fifty-two week high of $37.42.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. UGI had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. UGI's dividend payout ratio is 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.