Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Shares Down 3.1%

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)’s stock price dropped 3.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $56.66 and last traded at $56.66. Approximately 4,122 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 56,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.48.

Unitil Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $54.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $947.24 million, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.60.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Unitil had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Unitil by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 488,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,678,000 after buying an additional 83,980 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in Unitil during the first quarter worth about $2,346,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil during the fourth quarter worth about $1,028,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Unitil by 22.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 83,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,364,000 after buying an additional 15,518 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Unitil by 66.0% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 38,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,000,000 after buying an additional 15,355 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.