American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.24% of Unitil worth $2,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $46.89 on Monday. Unitil Corporation has a 52 week low of $46.31 and a 52 week high of $63.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.40 million, a PE ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.98.

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

Unitil Announces Dividend

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