Unitil Corporation $UTL Stock: Boston Trust Walden Corp Reduces Stake

Boston Trust Walden Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 304,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,008 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Unitil were worth $15,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Unitil during the second quarter worth about $2,250,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the second quarter worth about $5,314,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the second quarter worth about $1,012,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the second quarter worth about $2,285,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,057,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $56.65 on Friday. Unitil Corporation has a 52-week low of $46.91 and a 52-week high of $58.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.14 and a 200-day moving average of $52.54.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.16%. The company had revenue of $112.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.11 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.4750 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Huntington initiated coverage on shares of Unitil in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Unitil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.67.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation is a regulated public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Its operations focus primarily on the distribution of energy through local utility networks rather than the production of electricity or natural gas.

Through its operating subsidiaries, Unitil provides electric distribution service in portions of New Hampshire and Massachusetts and natural gas distribution service in parts of southern New Hampshire and central Massachusetts.