Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,820 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Unitil worth $70,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Unitil by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 195.9% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 43,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 28,973 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unitil during the second quarter worth about $292,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 395.4% during the second quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 18,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 14,747 shares during the period. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Unitil by 38.9% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,821,000 after purchasing an additional 101,114 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Unitil has an average rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Stock Up 0.3%

Unitil stock opened at $53.17 on Friday. Unitil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $59.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $956.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $161.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.45 million. Analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 63.33%.

About Unitil

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.