Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management reduced its Unitil stake by 18.4% in the second quarter, selling 110,629 shares and retaining 491,474 shares valued at approximately $25.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.76% of Unitil.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with one Buy rating and four Hold ratings. Unitil has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $56.50, compared with a recent share price of $53.72.
• Unitil reported quarterly EPS of $0.29, exceeding estimates by $0.03, and continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, representing a 3.5% yield and a $1.90 annualized payout.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 18.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 491,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 110,629 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 2.69% of Unitil worth $25,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at approximately $737,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth $5,314,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $362,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,012,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter valued at $421,000. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on UTL shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Unitil in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Unitil from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.50.

Unitil Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:UTL opened at $53.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $979.69 million, a PE ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $53.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.64. Unitil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $57.26.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 9.49%.The business had revenue of $113.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Unitil's payout ratio is currently 59.94%.

Unitil Profile

Unitil Corporation NYSE: UTL is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil's operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.

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