UGI Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.38 (NYSE:UGI)

UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.375 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%.

UGI has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. UGI has a dividend payout ratio of 49.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect UGI to earn $3.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.5%.

UGI Trading Up 0.9 %

UGI traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,756,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,815,104. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.21. UGI has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $31.45.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.16. UGI had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 14.64%. As a group, research analysts forecast that UGI will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UGI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of UGI from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UGI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.33.

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.