LSV Asset Management Invests $298,000 in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 1,562.5% during the 3rd 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 period. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA bought a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Unitil by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Unitil by 239.5% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. 74.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL opened at $56.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $912.29 million, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. Unitil Co. has a 52-week low of $44.67 and a 52-week high of $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.62 and its 200-day moving average is $53.92.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 7.45%. Sell-side analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 15th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on UTL shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Unitil from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Unitil in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

About Unitil

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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.