UGI Corporation’s (UGI) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Group LLC

Jefferies Group LLC restated their hold rating on shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) in a report issued on Friday morning. They currently have a $46.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded UGI Corporation from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 21st. BidaskClub lowered UGI Corporation from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Finally, Barclays PLC reduced their price target on UGI Corporation from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $47.60.

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) traded up 0.06% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.30. The stock had a trading volume of 398,446 shares. The firm has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.67. UGI Corporation has a 52 week low of $41.79 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.31.

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.01. UGI Corporation had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. UGI Corporation’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post $2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. This is a positive change from UGI Corporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 13th. UGI Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.02%.

In other news, CEO John L. Walsh sold 50,000 shares of UGI Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.90, for a total value of $2,545,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 477,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,310,705.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Anne Pol sold 6,750 shares of UGI Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.61, for a total value of $341,617.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,062 shares in the company, valued at $610,457.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,250 shares of company stock worth $4,954,218. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID acquired a new stake in shares of UGI Corporation during the second quarter worth $3,277,000. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB raised its stake in shares of UGI Corporation by 0.8% in the second quarter. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB now owns 13,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of UGI Corporation during the first quarter worth $438,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UGI Corporation by 4.6% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 13,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of UGI Corporation during the first quarter worth $3,040,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.29% of the company’s stock.

UGI Corporation Company Profile

UGI Corporation is a holding company. The Company distributes, stores, transports and markets energy products and related services. It operates through six segments. The AmeriGas Propane segment consists of the propane distribution business of AmeriGas Partners, L.P. The UGI France segment consists of the French LPG distribution business of its subsidiaries, Antargaz, Finagaz and its liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) distribution businesses.