Wall Street Zen Downgrades UGI (NYSE:UGI) to Hold

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.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Zacks Research upgraded 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UGI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.33.

UGI Price Performance

UGI stock opened at $34.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. UGI has a 52 week low of $23.14 and a 52 week high of $37.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.38 and a 200-day moving average of $34.49.

UGI (NYSE:UGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. UGI had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 5.70%.The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. UGI's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UGI will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UGI. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of UGI by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in UGI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $331,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in UGI by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,297 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 3,402 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in UGI by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,066 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,034,000 after buying an additional 10,751 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in UGI by 1,634.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 515,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,553,000 after buying an additional 485,802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company's stock.

About UGI

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.

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