Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Sold by Wernau Asset Management Inc.

Wernau Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 15.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,689 shares during the quarter. Unitil makes up approximately 1.5% of Wernau Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Wernau Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Unitil were worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Unitil by 45.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Unitil by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Unitil in the 1st quarter worth about $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

UTL stock opened at $48.08 on Thursday. Unitil Corporation has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $61.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $861.26 million, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.16.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $101.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.40 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 62.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Unitil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

About Unitil

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.