Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $6.50 to $5.80. The stock had previously closed at $6.70, but opened at $6.38. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Ultrapar Participacoes shares last traded at $6.4020, with a volume of 226,513 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.00 to $7.20 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 70,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 6,947 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 75.2% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,878,904 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,163,000 after acquiring an additional 806,463 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 100.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 11,461 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 80.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 177,847 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 79,524 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 26.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,997 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 14,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5.96 and a 200-day moving average of $5.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 2.28%.The business had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.1932 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 599.0%. Ultrapar Participacoes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.82%.

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.