Boston Trust Walden Corp Purchases 19,855 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 401,233 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,855 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 2.49% of Unitil worth $21,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UTL. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 57.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 133.8% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Unitil by 75.9% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in Unitil in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Trading Down 0.4 %

UTL traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,008. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $41.43 and a twelve month high of $60.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $50.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $815.11 million, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $129.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS 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 paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Unitil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Unitil's payout ratio is 60.28%.

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.