Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Short Interest Up 63.0% in May

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 239,600 shares, an increase of 63.0% from the April 30th total of 147,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 64,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTL. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Unitil by 139.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 19,134 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in Unitil by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Unitil by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Unitil by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 203,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Down 2.9%

Unitil stock traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.97. 76,828 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 63,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Unitil has a 52-week low of $48.94 and a 52-week high of $63.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $860.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $56.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.98.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.04). Unitil had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 9.52%. The company had revenue of $207.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.03 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Unitil's payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

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.