UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stock Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,640 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Unitil worth $3,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UTL. Wernau Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at $2,673,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Unitil by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,398,000 after buying an additional 49,130 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Unitil by 1,011.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 52,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,854,000 after buying an additional 47,921 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,082,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,326,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Unitil Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE UTL opened at $53.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $864.88 million, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.94. Unitil Co. has a 52 week low of $48.94 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.03 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 9.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Unitil Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Unitil's payout ratio is currently 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.

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.