GAMMA Investing LLC Has $2.95 Million Stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 7,273.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,477 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Unitil worth $2,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 19,134 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 8,333.3% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 186,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,084,000 after buying an additional 19,631 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unitil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $485,000. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTL opened at $53.24 on Friday. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $48.94 and a twelve month high of $63.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.71. The company has a market capitalization of $865.68 million, a PE ratio of 18.17 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Unitil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

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.