Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 6,602 Shares of Unitil Corporation $UTL

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.29% of Unitil worth $2,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Unitil by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the fourth quarter worth about $2,082,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE UTL opened at $47.85 on Monday. Unitil Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.65 and a 1-year high of $63.52. The company has a market cap of $846.47 million, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.66. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $50.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.29.

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

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

Unitil 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.