Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,382 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,117 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.48% of Unitil worth $4,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 19,134 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Unitil by 8,333.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Unitil by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 186,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,084,000 after acquiring an additional 19,631 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,181 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Unitil by 183.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 7,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Unitil Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:UTL traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $54.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,806. The company has a market capitalization of $885.19 million, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.67. Unitil Co. has a 12 month low of $48.94 and a 12 month high of $63.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.04.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.04). The business 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%. Equities analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

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.