Simplicity Wealth LLC Makes New $143,000 Investment in Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP)

Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,935 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participações during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,169,000. Metis Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participações during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participações during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participações during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participações during the third quarter valued at approximately $336,000. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participações Price Performance

UGP stock remained flat at $4.65 during midday trading on Friday. 1,323,297 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,176,968. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.42. Ultrapar Participações S.A. has a 52 week low of $3.24 and a 52 week high of $6.34.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 19.30%. On average, research analysts predict that Ultrapar Participações S.A. will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ultrapar Participações Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.0723 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. This is an increase from Ultrapar Participações’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Ultrapar Participações’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UGP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of Ultrapar Participações from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participações from $5.30 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.37.

About Ultrapar Participações

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.