Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Acquires 41,490 Shares of Unitil Corporation $UTL

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its holdings in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 89,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,490 shares during the quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s holdings in Unitil were worth $4,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Unitil by 100.0% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Unitil during the third quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Unitil during the 2nd quarter valued at $103,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 207.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on UTL. Wall Street Zen raised Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:UTL opened at $52.24 on Thursday. Unitil Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.61 and a 52 week high of $59.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.53 and a 200 day moving average of $49.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $939.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 0.48.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.45 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Unitil’s payout ratio is 63.33%.

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.