Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $6.59 and last traded at $6.5450, with a volume of 2827543 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UGP has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.00 to $7.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ultrapar Participacoes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.32.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.18 billion. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 18.84%. Research analysts predict that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.1932 per share. This represents a yield of 634.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Ultrapar Participacoes’s dividend payout ratio is 34.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultrapar Participacoes

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 235.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 927,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,109,000 after purchasing an additional 650,988 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 350.7% in the fourth quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 874,882 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 680,782 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,740,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $20,611,000 after buying an additional 357,922 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the fourth quarter worth about $2,631,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 42.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 945,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,210,000 after acquiring an additional 282,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

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.