Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) to Issue $0.04 Semi-annual Dividend

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) declared a semi-annual dividend on Friday, August 9th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of 0.0446 per share by the oil and gas company on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th.

Ultrapar Participações has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.9% per year over the last three years. Ultrapar Participações has a payout ratio of 41.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ultrapar Participações to earn $0.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.5%.

Ultrapar Participações Stock Up 1.1 %

UGP opened at $4.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.64. Ultrapar Participações has a twelve month low of $3.39 and a twelve month high of $6.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.95.

Ultrapar Participações (NYSE:UGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter. Ultrapar Participações had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 20.24%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ultrapar Participações will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on UGP. HSBC upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Ultrapar Participações from $5.90 to $5.20 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.25.

Ultrapar Participações Company Profile

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.