Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest more than doubled to 2.46 million shares as of July 31, up 124.1% from mid-July, though only about 0.2% of shares are sold short and the days-to-cover ratio is 0.6.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Bank of America and UBS upgraded or maintained “buy” ratings, while MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.32.
• UGP traded at $6.17, near its 52-week high, and announced a $0.1932-per-share dividend payable September 14 to shareholders of record August 26.

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,460,606 shares, a growth of 124.1% from the July 15th total of 1,097,793 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,876,192 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UGP. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 45.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the first quarter worth $55,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the first quarter worth $62,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 3.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on UGP shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $6.32.

Ultrapar Participacoes Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE UGP opened at $6.17 on Friday. Ultrapar Participacoes has a one year low of $3.11 and a one year high of $6.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's 50-day moving average is $5.64 and its 200-day moving average is $5.48.

Ultrapar Participacoes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.1932 per share. This represents a yield of 634.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. Ultrapar Participacoes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.00%.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

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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