Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 9,155 Shares of Unitil Corporation $UTL

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its stake in Unitil Corporation by 2.4% in the second quarter, selling 9,155 shares and now holding 374,130 shares valued at approximately $19.5 million.
• Analysts have issued a "hold" rating for Unitil, with a current consensus target price of $55.00 per share, reflecting cautious sentiment amid fluctuating market conditions.
• Unitil recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, indicating a strong dividend yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of 61.86%.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its stake in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 374,130 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,155 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 2.30% of Unitil worth $19,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 6.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,365,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $78,763,000 after acquiring an additional 82,137 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Unitil by 8.6% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 609,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,143,000 after acquiring an additional 48,225 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Unitil during the first quarter worth approximately $7,457,000. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 23.7% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 115,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,685,000 after acquiring an additional 22,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Unitil by 3.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,006,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unitil presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.00.

Unitil Trading Up 1.0%

UTL opened at $47.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $847.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $47.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.85. Unitil Corporation has a one year low of $44.61 and a one year high of $61.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $101.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 9.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is 61.86%.

Unitil Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UTL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.