Unitil Corporation (UTL) - What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is neutral: Six analysts give Unitil an average “Hold” rating, with five holds and one buy. The average 12-month price target is $58.67, above the stock’s reported $55.39 price.
• Unitil exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.29 in EPS versus the $0.26 consensus and revenue of $117 million versus estimates of $113.19 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, equivalent to $1.90 annually and a 3.4% yield. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the stock, with several funds increasing their positions.

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.67.

UTL has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Unitil from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Huntington initiated coverage on Unitil in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $63.00 price target for the company.

Unitil Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of UTL opened at $55.39 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.42. Unitil has a 52 week low of $46.91 and a 52 week high of $57.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $117.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 9.53%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.4750 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Unitil's payout ratio is 59.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UTL. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 181,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,229,000 after buying an additional 47,499 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the third quarter worth $257,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unitil by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 360.0% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 59,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,010,000 after buying an additional 46,400 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation is a regulated public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Its operations focus primarily on the distribution of energy through local utility networks rather than the production of electricity or natural gas.

Through its operating subsidiaries, Unitil provides electric distribution service in portions of New Hampshire and Massachusetts and natural gas distribution service in parts of southern New Hampshire and central Massachusetts.

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