Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) gapped down before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $7.74, but opened at $6.24. Ultrapar Participacoes shares last traded at $6.3640, with a volume of 2,601,007 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UGP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Scotiabank cut Ultrapar Participacoes from a “sector outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five 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 price target of $6.54.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

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 company’s 50 day moving average is $7.33 and its 200 day moving average is $6.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.71.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The business had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.18 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th were paid a $0.1932 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 599.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 26th. Ultrapar Participacoes’s payout ratio is 50.82%.

Insider Activity at Ultrapar Participacoes

In other Ultrapar Participacoes news, CEO Decio De Sampaio Amaral sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.93, for a total transaction of $55,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,423.76. This trade represents a 5.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pedro Guedes Rabelo sold 30,000 shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.58, for a total value of $227,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $438,866.84. This represents a 34.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,785 shares of company stock worth $587,312. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participacoes

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UGP. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 45.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes during the first quarter worth about $55,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Ultrapar Participacoes during the first quarter worth about $62,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 165.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 7,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plan A Wealth LLC grew its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 24.3% during the third quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 15,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 3,050 shares in the last quarter. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian holding company whose businesses focus on fuel distribution, liquefied petroleum gas and transportation infrastructure. Through its subsidiaries, the company serves commercial, industrial, retail and residential customers, primarily in Brazil.

Ipiranga is Ultrapar’s fuel-distribution business, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and other fuels through a network of service stations and commercial channels. Ultragaz distributes liquefied petroleum gas for household, commercial and industrial use, including bottled and bulk products.

Ultrapar also operates Ultracargo, a provider of liquid bulk storage and transportation infrastructure for fuels, chemicals and other products.