Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Acquired by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,619 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.39% of Unitil worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Unitil by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Unitil by 45.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Unitil during the second quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 207.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $51.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.67. Unitil Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.61 and a 52 week high of $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $930.36 million, a PE ratio of 17.25 and a beta of 0.49.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.45 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 12th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.33%.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation (NYSE: UTL) is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil’s operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.