Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Stake Increased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 707 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.12% of Unitil worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the first quarter worth $25,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 2,520.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 57.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Unitil by 75.9% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Unitil by 239.5% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Unitil from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Unitil in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Unitil in a report on Monday, November 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of UTL opened at $49.31 on Tuesday. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $41.43 and a 1 year high of $60.59. The company has a market cap of $793.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.34 and a 200-day moving average of $49.83.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.70%.

Unitil Profile

Unitil Corporation, a public utility holding company, engages in the distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through two segments, Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations. The company distributes electricity in the southeastern seacoast and state capital regions of New Hampshire, and the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts; and distributes natural gas in southeastern New Hampshire and portions of southern and central Maine, including the city of Portland and the Lewiston-Auburn area, as well as electricity and natural gas in the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts.