Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,642 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.66% of Unitil worth $19,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Unitil during the second quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Unitil by 1,562.5% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Unitil during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 75.9% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 275.1% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.53% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

Unitil stock opened at $53.85 on Tuesday. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $44.67 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.68. The company has a market cap of $866.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 13th. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 62.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UTL shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Unitil from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th.

Unitil Profile

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UNITIL Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in the local distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, and Others. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Hampton, NH.