Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Stock Rated “Strong-Buy” in New Coverage at Huntington

Huntington initiated coverage on shares of Unitil (NYSE:UTL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks reports. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Huntington also issued estimates for Unitil’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.28 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.74 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.30 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.10 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.34 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $3.47 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $1.87 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $0.30 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $0.13 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.70 EPS.

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Unitil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unitil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.67.

Unitil Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of UTL stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $56.40. The company had a trading volume of 193,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,017. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.20 and its 200 day moving average is $52.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Unitil has a fifty-two week low of $46.91 and a fifty-two week high of $58.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 0.27.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $112.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.11 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.16% and a return on equity of 9.23%. Research analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.4750 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 61.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the second quarter worth $152,441,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at $26,864,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Unitil in the second quarter valued at $12,242,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Unitil in the second quarter valued at $5,730,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Unitil in the second quarter valued at $5,314,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Unitil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Huntington forecasts full-year EPS of $3.28 for 2026, $3.47 for 2027 and $3.70 for 2028. The 2026 estimate is slightly below the cited $3.31 consensus, but the projections imply improving earnings in the following years. Huntington stock recommendations

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.