8,947 Shares in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Acquired by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $485,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Unitil at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 139.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 19,134 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its stake in Unitil by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Unitil by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Price Performance

UTL opened at $53.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $875.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Unitil Co. has a 12-month low of $48.94 and a 12-month high of $63.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.22.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.03 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 9.52%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.