Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Unitil (NYSE:UTL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $53.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.57. The firm has a market cap of $955.37 million, a P/E ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.48. Unitil has a 12 month low of $44.61 and a 12 month high of $59.99.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $161.50 million during 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Unitil by 94.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,125,000 after buying an additional 291,325 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unitil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,162,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Unitil by 17.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,414,000 after acquiring an additional 108,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 38.9% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,821,000 after acquiring an additional 101,114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

About Unitil

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.