UGI Corporation $UGI Stake Boosted by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in UGI Corporation by 11.8% during the first quarter, totaling approximately $87.5 million worth of shares.
• UGI's latest earnings report revealed a beat on EPS estimates, posting a loss of ($0.01) compared to expectations of ($0.12), with revenue of $1.39 billion versus a forecast of $1.77 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, reflecting a 4.3% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 78.95%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,644,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 278,616 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.23% of UGI worth $87,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in UGI by 2.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,120,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $136,251,000 after purchasing an additional 117,663 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in UGI by 6.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in UGI by 91.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in UGI by 2.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in UGI by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,329,247 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $65,754,000 after purchasing an additional 120,819 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on UGI shares. Wall Street Zen cut 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 upped their price target on shares of UGI from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.33.

UGI Stock Down 0.5%

UGI stock opened at $35.1350 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.56. UGI Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.14 and a 52-week high of $37.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.05.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. UGI had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. UGI's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.95%.

UGI Company 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.

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