Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,820 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.32% of Unitil worth $70,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,414,000 after buying an additional 108,254 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,103,000 after buying an additional 14,894 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Unitil by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 413,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,797,000 after buying an additional 39,511 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Unitil by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 385,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,116,000 after buying an additional 4,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Unitil by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,821,000 after acquiring 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

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UTL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE UTL opened at $53.17 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.88. Unitil Corporation has a one year low of $44.61 and a one year 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 firm has a market cap of $956.00 million, a PE ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Unitil Increases Dividend

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

Unitil 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.