Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on UGI (NYSE:UGI)

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $28.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on UGI. StockNews.com downgraded UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.33.

UGI Trading Up 15.0 %

Shares of NYSE UGI opened at $28.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. UGI has a 12-month low of $21.51 and a 12-month high of $28.66.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.97%.

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 42.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in UGI by 33.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202,938 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in UGI by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,537,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,014,000 after buying an additional 788,457 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in UGI by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,024,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,267,000 after acquiring an additional 356,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UGI by 47.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,503,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,630,000 after purchasing an additional 808,113 shares during the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is 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.