Cerity Partners LLC Sells 1,394 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,394 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Unitil by 139.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 19,134 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Unitil by 8,333.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 204.2% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 32,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 21,652 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 3.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 381,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,126,000 after buying an additional 11,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Unitil by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE UTL opened at $59.47 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.52. Unitil Co. has a 12 month low of $48.94 and a 12 month high of $63.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $966.15 million, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 61.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Unitil in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

About Unitil

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.