Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.20.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on UGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Ultrapar Participações from $5.90 to $5.20 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Ultrapar Participações from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultrapar Participações

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ultrapar Participações by 175.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,471,048 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,850,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,696 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 60.0% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 356,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 133,791 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 112.6% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 25,044 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 13,262 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participações during the first quarter worth about $328,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 36.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 4,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participações Price Performance

Shares of UGP stock opened at $3.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.55. Ultrapar Participações has a 52-week low of $3.39 and a 52-week high of $6.34. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.61.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a return on equity of 20.24% and a net margin of 2.21%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ultrapar Participações will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Ultrapar Participações Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.0446 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Ultrapar Participações’s payout ratio is currently 16.67%.

Ultrapar Participações Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.