Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 275,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,162,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. owned about 1.55% of Unitil at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 100.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Unitil by 45.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Unitil by 207.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of UTL stock opened at $50.88 on Tuesday. Unitil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.60. The company has a market cap of $911.82 million, a P/E ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 0.49.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $161.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.45 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 9.04%. Research analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 12th. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 62.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Unitil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

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.