Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Coverage Initiated at Scotiabank

Research analysts at Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Unitil (NYSE:UTL) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “sector perform” rating and a $57.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.53% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on UTL. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Unitil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL stock opened at $54.53 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.01. Unitil has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $59.99. The firm has a market cap of $980.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.45.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.45 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 9.37%. Analysts predict that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Unitil by 94.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,125,000 after purchasing an additional 291,325 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Unitil in the third quarter valued at about $13,162,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Unitil in the third quarter valued at about $8,338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Unitil by 17.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,414,000 after purchasing an additional 108,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Unitil by 38.9% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,821,000 after purchasing an additional 101,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

About Unitil

Unitil Corporation (NYSE: UTL) is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil’s operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.