UGI (NYSE:UGI) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $32.65 and last traded at $32.59, with a volume of 105805 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho raised UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on UGI in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.33.

UGI Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.21.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 7.73%. Equities research analysts predict that UGI Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.61%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in UGI by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,529,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,469,000 after buying an additional 2,110,337 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in UGI by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,058,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,200,000 after buying an additional 296,028 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,962,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,156 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,786,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,887,000 after purchasing an additional 343,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UGI during the 4th quarter valued at $103,115,000. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.