Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on UGP. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.20 to $7.90 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Scotiabank downgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “sector outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Ultrapar Participacoes from $6.50 to $5.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ultrapar Participacoes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.54.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Performance

NYSE UGP traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $7.79. 3,525,273 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,693,848. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 1 year low of $3.60 and a 1 year high of $8.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.71.

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 business had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.18 billion. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 18.84%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andre Saleme Hachem sold 39,200 shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.67, for a total value of $300,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,927.25. The trade was a 60.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Decio De Sampaio Amaral sold 8,000 shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.93, for a total value of $55,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,423.76. This trade represents a 5.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 77,785 shares of company stock worth $587,312 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the second quarter valued at about $6,704,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 235.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 927,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,109,000 after acquiring an additional 650,988 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 357,922 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 valued at $5,210,000 after acquiring an additional 282,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 419.7% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 257,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 208,319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian holding company with operations focused on energy, fuel distribution and logistics. Through its businesses, the company supplies fuels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and related services to consumers, commercial customers and industrial clients.

Its principal businesses include Ipiranga, one of Brazil’s major fuel distribution companies, and Ultragaz, which distributes LPG for residential, commercial and industrial use. Ultrapar also owns Ultracargo, a provider of storage and handling services for liquid bulk products, including fuels, chemicals and other industrial materials.

Ultrapar’s operations are concentrated primarily in Brazil, with activities supported by distribution networks, terminals and storage infrastructure across key regions of the country.