Sciencast Management LP Takes Position in UGI Corporation $UGI

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP has made a new investment of $1.99 million in UGI Corporation, purchasing 60,251 shares in the first quarter.
• UGI Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375, which will yield 4.4% annually, with the ex-dividend date set for September 15th.
• The company's recent earnings report revealed a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 15.73%, with a projected earning per share of 3.02 for the current fiscal year.

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 60,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,993,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in UGI by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 23,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 6,210 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in UGI by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in UGI by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,391 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,948 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in UGI by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 101,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,862,000 after buying an additional 6,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in UGI in the fourth quarter valued at about $331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company's stock.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UGI traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.75. 1,507,715 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,922,714. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.48. UGI Corporation has a 1-year low of $23.14 and a 1-year high of $37.42. The firm has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.06.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. UGI had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 5.70%.The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. UGI's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. UGI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UGI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of UGI to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UGI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.33.

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.