Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Ultrapar Participações shares fell 4.3%, opening at $6.38 versus the prior close of $6.70 and later trading near $6.40.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with Bank of America upgrading the stock to “buy” and raising its target to $7.40; MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of $6.32.
• The company slightly beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.28 in EPS versus $0.27 expected, while revenue of $8 billion came in below forecasts. Ultrapar also declared a $0.1932 dividend payable September 14 to shareholders of record August 26.

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.70, but opened at $6.38. Ultrapar Participacoes shares last traded at $6.4020, with a volume of 226,513 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on UGP shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $6.80 to $7.40 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.00 to $7.20 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $6.32.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Down 4.3%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.70.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.18 billion. Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 2.28%. Equities research analysts predict that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.1932 dividend. This represents a yield of 602.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. Ultrapar Participacoes's payout ratio is 34.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UGP. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 42,357.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,147,914 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $8,098,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142,855 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 306.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,796,662 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108,543 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ultrapar Participacoes by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,214,612 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $15,889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087,852 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,876,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 131.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,890,033 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $11,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,562 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company's stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian diversified holding company operating in the downstream energy and chemical sectors. Its Ipiranga unit runs one of Brazil's largest networks of fuel stations, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and convenience-store products to retail and wholesale customers. Through Ultragaz, the company is a leading distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), offering cylinder and bulk gas solutions for residential, commercial and industrial use across urban and rural regions.

In the specialty chemicals arena, Ultrapar controls Oxiteno, which produces surfactants and specialty chemical formulations for industries such as personal care, oil and gas, agrochemicals and coatings.

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