HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 8,269 Shares of Unitil Corporation $UTL

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Unitil Corporation by 43.5%, now holding 10,746 shares valued at $620,000.
• Unitil recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.29 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.28, with a revenue of $101 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 43.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,269 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Unitil worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UTL. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Unitil by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Unitil by 3.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 7.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE UTL traded down $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 72,189. Unitil Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.34 and a 52 week high of $63.52. The firm has a market cap of $809.05 million, a P/E ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The business had revenue of $101.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.00 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.