Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down to $5.28

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $5.28, but opened at $4.85. Ultrapar Participações shares last traded at $4.76, with a volume of 715,460 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UGP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ultrapar Participações from $5.30 to $6.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded Ultrapar Participações from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.37.

Ultrapar Participações Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.37.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business had revenue of $6.75 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ultrapar Participações S.A. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Ultrapar Participações Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.0723 dividend. This is a boost from Ultrapar Participações's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a yield of 2%. Ultrapar Participações's payout ratio is presently 31.11%.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participações

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,169,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Ultrapar Participações by 1,497.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 153,473 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 143,865 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Ultrapar Participações by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,382,989 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,076,000 after buying an additional 104,754 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participações during the 4th quarter valued at $557,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participações in the 3rd quarter worth $336,000. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participações Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.