Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,041 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.64% of Unitil worth $23,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Unitil by 139.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 19,134 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 4.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 87,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,171,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Unitil by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,398 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Unitil by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 33,689 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Unitil by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,488 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 5,770 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Trading Down 1.4 %

UTL stock traded down $0.81 on Friday, hitting $56.67. 129,385 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,028. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $920.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 0.67. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $48.94 and a twelve month high of $63.52. The business's fifty day moving average is $57.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.52.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.03 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 9.52%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Unitil Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Unitil's payout ratio is 61.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Profile

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.