American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 104,754 Shares of Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,382,989 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,754 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Ultrapar Participações worth $5,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UGP. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Ultrapar Participações by 128.7% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,176 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Ultrapar Participações during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Ultrapar Participações by 20.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,770 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new position in Ultrapar Participações during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Ultrapar Participações during the first quarter worth $42,000. 3.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participações Stock Performance

Shares of UGP stock opened at $5.66 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.83 and a 200-day moving average of $5.04. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Ultrapar Participações S.A. has a one year low of $2.49 and a one year high of $6.34.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business had revenue of $6.75 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Ultrapar Participações S.A. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ultrapar Participações Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.0723 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from Ultrapar Participações’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Ultrapar Participações’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UGP has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ultrapar Participações from $5.30 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ultrapar Participações currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.37.

About Ultrapar Participações

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.