Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 6.4%, owning approximately 8.40% of the company, worth about $78.76 million after acquiring an additional 82,137 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Unitil recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.8%.
• The company's stock is currently trading at $47.85, with a market cap of $846.28 million and a recent trading increase of 2.5%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,365,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 82,137 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.40% of Unitil worth $78,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,338 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Unitil by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 117,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,355,000 after purchasing an additional 6,335 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter worth about $2,082,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Unitil by 798.2% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Unitil by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 33,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Unitil Trading Up 0.3%

UTL stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.89. The company had a trading volume of 134,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,272. The company has a market capitalization of $829.40 million, a PE ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.48 and a 200 day moving average of $54.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Unitil Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.31 and a 12 month high of $63.52.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $101.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. On average, equities analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Unitil's payout ratio is presently 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.