Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Short Interest Down 16.9% in April

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 99,100 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the March 31st total of 119,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 52,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 488,461 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,678,000 after buying an additional 83,980 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 158.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 84,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,602,000 after buying an additional 51,655 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 404,481 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,275,000 after buying an additional 45,213 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 178,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,641,000 after buying an additional 33,334 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 148,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,329,000 after buying an additional 20,764 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE UTL traded down $0.55 on Friday, hitting $49.94. 35,408 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,656. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.82 and a 200-day moving average of $49.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Unitil has a 52 week low of $41.43 and a 52 week high of $59.08. The stock has a market cap of $807.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. The company had revenue of $129.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts expect that Unitil will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is an increase from Unitil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.28%.

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.