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

UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.375 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

UGI has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 36 years. UGI has a dividend payout ratio of 63.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect UGI to earn $3.10 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 48.4%.

UGI Trading Down 6.4 %

NYSE UGI traded down $1.66 on Thursday, hitting $24.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,386,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,078,528. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of -10.78 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.63 and its 200 day moving average is $23.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. UGI has a 1-year low of $20.19 and a 1-year high of $33.14.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. UGI had a positive return on equity of 14.09% and a negative net margin of 5.48%. UGI’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that UGI will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About UGI

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.