Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Receives $3.20 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.20.

UGP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Ultrapar Participações to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th. HSBC raised shares of Ultrapar Participações from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $4.10 to $3.20 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Ultrapar Participações Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of UGP stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 95,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,158. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 6.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $2.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.04. Ultrapar Participações has a 52 week low of $2.53 and a 52 week high of $5.37.

Ultrapar Participações Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0774 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 3.8%. Ultrapar Participações's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 26.0% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,712 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Ultrapar Participações in the 3rd quarter worth about $452,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 194.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 159,142 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 105,133 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ultrapar Participações by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,811,400 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 115,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Ultrapar Participações in the fourth quarter worth about $374,000. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.