Scotiabank Comments on Unitil's FY2026 Earnings (NYSE:UTL)

Key Points

• Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel forecasts Unitil FY2026 EPS of $3.31 (consensus $3.08) and FY2027 EPS of $3.51, maintaining a "Sector Perform" rating with a $57.00 price target.
• Unitil topped last quarter's estimates with EPS of $1.13 versus $1.03 expected and revenue of $161.5M, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.475 (annualized $1.90, ~3.5% yield).
• The stock trades near $53.57 with a 52-week range of $44.61–$59.99, a P/E of ~17.9 and market cap around $964M, and about 76.8% of shares are held by institutional investors.

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Scotiabank issued their FY2026 earnings estimates for Unitil in a research note issued to investors on Friday, April 10th. Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $3.31 per share for the year. Scotiabank currently has a "Sector Perform" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Unitil's current full-year earnings is $3.08 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Unitil's FY2027 earnings at $3.51 EPS.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The business had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.45 million.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on UTL. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unitil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Unitil presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.00.

Unitil Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $53.57 on Tuesday. Unitil has a 52-week low of $44.61 and a 52-week high of $59.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $52.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.12. The firm has a market cap of $963.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.45.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. This is an increase from Unitil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Unitil by 4.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $70,411,000 after buying an additional 68,820 shares during the period. Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new position in Unitil during the third quarter worth about $3,031,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Unitil by 195.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 43,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,094,000 after buying an additional 28,973 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil during the third quarter worth about $13,162,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in Unitil by 85.8% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 89,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,301,000 after buying an additional 41,490 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Unitil

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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