UGI (NYSE:UGI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded UGI from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, while Zacks Research recently also upgraded UGI to a "hold" rating.
• UGI reported a quarterly earnings per share of ($0.01), surpassing analysts' expectations of ($0.12), with total revenue of $1.39 billion, but falling short of estimates of $1.77 billion.
• Institutional investors own 82.34% of UGI's stock, with notable increases in stake from several firms during the 4th quarter, including a 1,634.8% raise by Millennium Management LLC.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, Zacks Research upgraded shares of UGI to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UGI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.33.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of UGI traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,871,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,719. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.48. UGI has a 52-week low of $23.14 and a 52-week high of $37.42.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. UGI had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The company's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that UGI will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. UGI's dividend payout ratio is 78.95%.

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UGI. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in UGI by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 98,812 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,599,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UGI by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 17,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in UGI by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 9,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in UGI by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. lifted its stake in UGI by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 1,880 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company's stock.

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.