Strs Ohio Purchases Shares of 10,900 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 bought a new stake in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $629,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.07% of Unitil as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 27.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Unitil in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Unitil in the first quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Teton Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil in the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Unitil in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UTL traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.45. 506,276 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 129,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $48.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.88. The firm has a market cap of $804.01 million, a P/E ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.68. Unitil Corporation has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $61.84.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $101.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 9.54%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Unitil's payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

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.