ProShare Advisors LLC Has $7.54 Million Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 43.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 139,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 109,070 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $7,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Unitil by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 9,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $54.44 on Friday. Unitil Co. has a 12 month low of $48.94 and a 12 month high of $63.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $884.62 million, a PE ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.35.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.04). Unitil had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The business had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.03 million. On average, research analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 61.43%.

About Unitil

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.