UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give UGI a consensus “Hold” rating, with three buys, two holds and one sell among six analysts. The average 12-month price target is $42, versus a recent share price of $37.58.
• UGI’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, reporting an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share versus the $0.08 loss analysts anticipated, while revenue of $1.33 billion missed the $1.50 billion consensus estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, equivalent to $1.50 annually and a 4.0% dividend yield; analysts expect full-year earnings of $2.85 per share.

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.00.

UGI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UGI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings cut UGI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut UGI from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of UGI stock opened at $37.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.93. UGI has a fifty-two week low of $31.62 and a fifty-two week high of $41.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.15.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.12). UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Analysts expect that UGI will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. UGI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $852,603.20. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of UGI

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. denkapparat Operations GmbH raised its holdings in UGI by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH now owns 22,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,850 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UGI during the second quarter valued at about $232,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in UGI in the second quarter worth about $245,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in UGI in the second quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in UGI in the second quarter worth about $3,895,000. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company's stock.

About UGI

UGI Corporation NYSE: UGI is a publicly traded energy distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, UGI has grown into a diversified provider of energy products and services. The company's operations are organized into three primary segments—AmeriGas Propane, UGI Utilities and UGI International—each focused on the delivery of propane, natural gas and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

AmeriGas Propane, UGI's largest segment, is the leading retail propane distributor in the United States with a network of dealers serving customers in all 50 states.

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