Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Unitil Corporation experienced a 47.9% decrease in short interest from August 15th to August 31st, dropping from 426,300 shares to 222,200 shares.
• Shares of Unitil opened at $46.22, with a 12-month low of $44.61 and a high of $63.52, alongside a market capitalization of approximately $817.58 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.9% and a payout ratio of 61.86%.

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 222,200 shares, a decrease of 47.9% from the August 15th total of 426,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 92,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 92,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 186,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,084,000 after buying an additional 19,631 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 77,382 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,193,000 after buying an additional 6,117 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 30,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Unitil during the 4th quarter valued at $485,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE:UTL traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $45.74. The company had a trading volume of 60,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,160. The stock has a market capitalization of $809.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.98. Unitil has a 52 week low of $44.61 and a 52 week high of $61.84.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $101.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is 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.