UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.38

UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.375 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%.

UGI has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. UGI has a payout ratio of 49.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect UGI to earn $3.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.5%.

UGI Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE UGI opened at $31.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.21. UGI has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $31.45.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued 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 net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 14.64%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UGI will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on UGI. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of UGI in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UGI currently has an average 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.