Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $57.26 and last traded at $56.1430, with a volume of 96205 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $55.54.
The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 60.13%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages recently issued reports on UTL. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Unitil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Unitil in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.50.
Unitil Price Performance
The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.98.
Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $216.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.13 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 87.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 51,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 24,131 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 502.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 28.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 99,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,202,000 after buying an additional 22,032 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Unitil by 91.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 19,760 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Unitil by 23.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 490,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,600,000 after buying an additional 93,101 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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