Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 290,385 Shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,797,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 290,385 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in UGI were worth $50,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of UGI by 42.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,418,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,878 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in UGI by 33.8% during the third 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in UGI by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,555,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,130,000 after buying an additional 51,861 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in UGI by 2,050.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,375,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,067,000 after buying an additional 2,265,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in UGI by 35.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,227,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,718,000 after buying an additional 318,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael Sharp acquired 4,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.30 per share, with a total value of $160,039.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,039.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI opened at $33.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.87. UGI Co. has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $34.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a net margin of 7.73% and a return on equity of 15.19%. On average, research analysts forecast that UGI Co. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 59.06%.

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.