Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 20,608 UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 20,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of UGI by 42.0% during the third 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. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UGI by 2,050.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,375,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,067,000 after buying an additional 2,265,300 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UGI by 33.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,202,938 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UGI by 47.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,503,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,630,000 after buying an additional 808,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of UGI by 105.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,507,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,712,000 after buying an additional 774,770 shares during the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UGI Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UGI opened at $33.04 on Monday. UGI Co. has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $34.49. The stock has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.02 and its 200 day moving average is $27.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 7.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that UGI Co. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on UGI. Mizuho raised UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on UGI in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael Sharp bought 4,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.30 per share, for a total transaction of $160,039.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,039.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UGI 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.