Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $5.63 and last traded at $5.4950, with a volume of 6315421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UGP has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.40 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $3.10 to $5.60 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 1.72% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The business had revenue of $6.19 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 117.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,084,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,205,282 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,639,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ultrapar Participacoes by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,695,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,841,000 after buying an additional 803,065 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,552,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 537,128 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 125,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian diversified holding company operating in the downstream energy and chemical sectors. Its Ipiranga unit runs one of Brazil’s largest networks of fuel stations, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and convenience-store products to retail and wholesale customers. Through Ultragaz, the company is a leading distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), offering cylinder and bulk gas solutions for residential, commercial and industrial use across urban and rural regions.

In the specialty chemicals arena, Ultrapar controls Oxiteno, which produces surfactants and specialty chemical formulations for industries such as personal care, oil and gas, agrochemicals and coatings.