Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Short Interest Down 31.3% in February

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 145,100 shares, a drop of 31.3% from the February 13th total of 211,300 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Unitil by 798.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Unitil by 8,333.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in Unitil during the third quarter valued at $137,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $56.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $54.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.06. Unitil has a 1 year low of $47.40 and a 1 year high of $63.52. The stock has a market cap of $916.40 million, a PE ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.60.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Unitil Company Profile

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.