Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 465 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Unitil by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 3.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 25,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 158.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 84,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,602,000 after buying an additional 51,655 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Unitil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Unitil by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $49.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $807.03 million, a P/E ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.58. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $41.43 and a twelve month high of $59.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $129.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.