Scotiabank Comments on Unitil’s FY2026 Earnings (NYSE:UTL)

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) – Equities research analysts at Scotiabank issued their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Unitil in a research note issued on Friday, April 10th. Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $3.31 for the year. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Unitil’s current full-year earnings is $3.08 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Unitil’s FY2027 earnings at $3.51 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unitil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

Unitil Stock Up 0.6%

UTL stock opened at $53.98 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Unitil has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $59.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.17. The stock has a market cap of $971.10 million, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.45.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The business had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.45 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Unitil by 94.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,125,000 after buying an additional 291,325 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,162,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Unitil by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,414,000 after buying an additional 108,254 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Unitil by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 146,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,120,000 after buying an additional 72,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 63.33%.

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.