129,260 Shares in Unitil Corporation $UTL Acquired by Nuveen LLC

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 129,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.80% of Unitil at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Unitil by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Unitil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,082,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of UTL stock opened at $47.85 on Monday. Unitil Corporation has a 12-month low of $46.65 and a 12-month high of $63.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.98 and its 200 day moving average is $54.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $846.47 million, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.66.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $101.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. Research analysts expect that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.86%.

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.