Strs Ohio Takes $629,000 Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Unitil Corporation, purchasing 10,900 shares valued at approximately $629,000 in the first quarter.
• Unitil announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, representing a 4.0% dividend yield and an annualized rate of $1.80.
• The company reported earnings of $0.29 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.01, with total revenue of $101.00 million.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $629,000. Strs Ohio owned about 0.07% of Unitil at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at $100,000. Teton Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Unitil Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Unitil stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $45.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 77,452. Unitil Corporation has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.46 and a 200-day moving average of $52.81. The stock has a market cap of $811.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 0.68. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. Research analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued 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 3.9%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.86%.

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.