Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Grows Stock Holdings in UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in UGI were worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 503.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,904,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,810,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423,713 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 67.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,372,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,560,000 after acquiring an additional 951,405 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 309.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,175,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,033,000 after acquiring an additional 888,072 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in UGI by 3.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,271,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,255,000 after purchasing an additional 781,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covalis Capital LLP purchased a new stake in UGI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,279,000. 82.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UGI Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of UGI opened at $25.76 on Friday. UGI Co. has a 1-year low of $20.19 and a 1-year high of $34.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.70 and a beta of 1.16.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. UGI had a positive return on equity of 14.09% and a negative net margin of 5.48%. Equities analysts forecast that UGI Co. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -68.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded UGI from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded UGI from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

UGI Company 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.