46,400 Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Bought by Inspire Investing LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing increased its Unitil stake by 360% in the third quarter, buying 46,400 additional shares to own 59,289 shares worth approximately $3.01 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 76.76% of UTL.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with one Buy rating and five Hold ratings producing a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $58.67.
• Unitil exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.29 in EPS versus the $0.26 consensus and $117 million in revenue. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, equivalent to a 3.4% yield.

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 360.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 46,400 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC owned 0.33% of Unitil worth $3,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UTL. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Unitil by 439.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 196.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 610 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 1.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 35,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 34.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,170 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in Unitil by 5.6% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UTL shares. Huntington started coverage on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Unitil from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.67.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $55.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 0.26. Unitil Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.91 and a twelve month high of $57.26. The company's fifty day moving average is $52.83 and its 200 day moving average is $52.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The company 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.4750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.94%.

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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