Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Unitil (NYSE:UTL) from a "Hold" to a "Buy," while Weiss Ratings reissued a "Hold (C-)" and the MarketBeat consensus remains Hold.
• Unitil beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.13 EPS vs. $1.03 expected and $161.5M revenue vs. $144.45M expected, and analysts project about $3.08 EPS for the current year.
• Institutional investors have been increasing positions—Vanguard, State Street, Manufacturers Life, JPMorgan and Wellington all raised stakes—and institutions and hedge funds now own roughly 76.76% of the stock.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Unitil Stock Down 0.1%

UTL opened at $53.71 on Friday. Unitil has a 12 month low of $44.61 and a 12 month high of $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $966.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.45.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.45 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 9.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Unitil by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,538,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,532,000 after buying an additional 67,456 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Unitil by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 721,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,939,000 after purchasing an additional 31,186 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Unitil by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,414,000 after purchasing an additional 108,254 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Unitil by 2.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,084 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,103,000 after purchasing an additional 14,894 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Unitil by 94.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,125,000 after purchasing an additional 291,325 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Company Profile

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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