UGI (NYSE:UGI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $30.70 and last traded at $30.73, with a volume of 776938 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UGI. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on UGI in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.33.

UGI Trading Down 2.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.84.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 120.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UGI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in UGI by 42.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,418,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $235,660,000 after buying an additional 2,786,878 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of UGI by 2,050.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,375,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,265,300 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in UGI by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202,938 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in UGI by 47.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,503,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,630,000 after purchasing an additional 808,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in UGI by 105.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,507,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,712,000 after purchasing an additional 774,770 shares during the period. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.