UGI (NYSE:UGI) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

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 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.33.

UGI Trading Up 15.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UGI opened at $28.52 on Friday. UGI has a 52-week low of $21.51 and a 52-week high of $28.66. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91.

UGI Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UGI. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,246,000 after buying an additional 1,202,938 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of UGI by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 186,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of UGI by 7.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 313,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,000 after acquiring an additional 22,752 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of UGI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 82,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the period. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 183,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,586,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.