Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at $100,000. Teton Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at $220,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of UTL stock opened at $46.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.58. Unitil Corporation has a one year low of $44.61 and a one year high of $61.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $830.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Unitil Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Unitil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.