Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down to $4.25

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $4.25, but opened at $4.16. Ultrapar Participações shares last traded at $4.13, with a volume of 53,135 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Hsbc Global Res raised Ultrapar Participações from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. HSBC raised Ultrapar Participações from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Ultrapar Participações from $5.90 to $5.20 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ultrapar Participações from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.25.

Ultrapar Participações Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.85. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.64.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.08. The firm 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ultrapar Participações S.A. will post 0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participações Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.0446 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Ultrapar Participações’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultrapar Participações

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 332.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,429,946 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,433 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 128.2% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 66,631 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 37,436 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,450,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,581,000 after acquiring an additional 898,600 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 303,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 43,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 15,046 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

About Ultrapar Participações

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.