Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 277,502 Shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,673,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 277,502 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.80% of UGI worth $41,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UGI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in UGI by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,271,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,255,000 after purchasing an additional 781,929 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of UGI by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,904,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,810,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423,713 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in UGI by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,554,000 after purchasing an additional 130,010 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,482,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,086,000 after buying an additional 86,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in UGI by 309.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,175,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,033,000 after acquiring an additional 888,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of UGI stock opened at $25.72 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.79. UGI Co. has a 12 month low of $20.19 and a 12 month high of $34.26.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. UGI had a negative net margin of 5.48% and a positive return on equity of 14.09%. On average, research analysts expect that UGI Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.83%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is currently -68.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of UGI from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet raised UGI from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

UGI Company Profile

UGI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream & Marketing, and UGI Utilities. It distributes propane to approximately 1.3 million residential, commercial/industrial, motor fuel, agricultural, and wholesale customers through 1,400 propane distribution locations.