11,916 Shares in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 11,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $687,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of Unitil as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 27.8% during the 1st 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Unitil by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Unitil by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,802,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 798.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,717 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Price Performance

UTL traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.37. 100,713 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 63,282. The business's 50 day moving average price is $52.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $835.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 0.63. Unitil Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.81 and a 1 year high of $63.52.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.03 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 9.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

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.