Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Unitil has an average rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $53.17 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $956.00 million, a PE ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.48. Unitil has a 12 month low of $44.61 and a 12 month high of $59.99.

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

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 195.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 43,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,094,000 after buying an additional 28,973 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Unitil by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in Unitil by 395.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 18,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 14,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Unitil by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,821,000 after acquiring an additional 101,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Company Profile

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.