The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Position in UGI Corporation $UGI

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,115,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 228,187 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in UGI were worth $73,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in UGI by 80.1% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in UGI during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 45.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of UGI in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of UGI in the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. 82.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UGI news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UGI. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings cut UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research downgraded UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

UGI Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:UGI opened at $38.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 0.94. UGI Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.62 and a fifty-two week high of $41.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.12.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.12). UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Analysts predict that UGI Corporation will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is 50.17%.

About UGI

UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) is an energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882, the company operates through businesses that distribute and market natural gas, electricity, propane and other energy products.

Through UGI Utilities, the company provides regulated natural gas and electric service to customers in parts of Pennsylvania and regulated natural gas service in parts of Maryland. UGI also operates energy marketing, midstream and storage businesses that supply natural gas and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers.

UGI is also involved in propane distribution through AmeriGas, which serves customers across the United States, and through international propane operations serving customers in parts of Europe.