Howland Capital Management LLC Sells 900 Shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI)

Howland Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) by 7.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UGI were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,897,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $661,669,000 after acquiring an additional 625,128 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,554,000 after acquiring an additional 130,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UGI during the fourth quarter worth $46,034,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of UGI by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,673,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,181,000 after purchasing an additional 277,502 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UGI by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,588,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,067,000 after purchasing an additional 106,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:UGI traded up $0.14 on Friday, reaching $23.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 89,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,307,844. UGI Co. has a 1-year low of $20.19 and a 1-year high of $27.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.04.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.32. UGI had a positive return on equity of 15.78% and a negative net margin of 0.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UGI Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. UGI’s payout ratio is -365.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on UGI. Mizuho lifted their price objective on UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UGI from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised UGI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.