D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Makes New $485,000 Investment in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,947 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $485,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.06% of Unitil as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 139.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,989,000 after buying an additional 19,134 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in Unitil by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Unitil by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,856,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Unitil by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,567,000 after buying an additional 2,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of Unitil stock traded up $0.52 on Thursday, reaching $54.26. The stock had a trading volume of 34,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,690. The stock has a market cap of $881.70 million, a P/E ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.67. Unitil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.94 and a fifty-two week high of $63.52. The business's 50-day moving average price is $56.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.03 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 9.52%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unitil Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.