UGI (NYSE:UGI) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on UGI. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of UGI from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of UGI from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of UGI from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of UGI stock traded down $0.30 on Monday, hitting $24.80. 2,100,876 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,975,365. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.98. UGI has a 1 year low of $20.19 and a 1 year high of $35.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -11.27 and a beta of 1.16.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. UGI had a negative net margin of 5.48% and a positive return on equity of 14.09%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UGI will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 35,154,665 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,221,976,000 after buying an additional 1,150,654 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,897,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $661,669,000 after buying an additional 625,128 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,567,208 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $507,628,000 after buying an additional 974,540 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UGI during the 4th quarter worth about $203,745,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,969,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,057,000 after purchasing an additional 618,321 shares during the period. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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