Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) saw a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,950,000 shares, a decline of 41.0% from the February 13th total of 5,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participações

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UGP. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 74.3% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,513,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497,300 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 763.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,374,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,616,000 after buying an additional 1,215,605 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,654,373 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,351,000 after buying an additional 608,951 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,175,452 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,091,000 after buying an additional 509,037 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in Ultrapar Participações by 194.4% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 734,949 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after buying an additional 485,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participações Stock Performance

NYSE UGP opened at $3.03 on Friday. Ultrapar Participações has a 1 year low of $2.53 and a 1 year high of $5.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.26.

Ultrapar Participações Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.0774 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. Ultrapar Participações’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $4.10 to $3.20 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. HSBC upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ultrapar Participações currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3.20.

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.