Raymond James & Associates Buys 3,933 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,933 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Unitil were worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Unitil by 133.8% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Unitil by 75.9% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $131,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new position in Unitil in the third quarter worth about $213,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Up 1.1 %

Unitil stock opened at $49.12 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.49. Unitil Co. has a 52-week low of $41.43 and a 52-week high of $59.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $793.85 million, a P/E ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Unitil had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 9.32%. The company had revenue of $129.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a $0.425 dividend. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.28%.

Unitil Company 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.