New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stake in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,745 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of UGI worth $5,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UGI. Creative Planning raised its position in UGI by 3.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in UGI by 64.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in UGI by 10.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 160,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after acquiring an additional 15,527 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in UGI by 945.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 46,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in UGI by 7.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UGI opened at $32.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.21. UGI Co. has a 1 year low of $22.01 and a 1 year high of $33.11.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 7.73%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UGI Co. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on UGI shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on UGI in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.33.

About UGI

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.