Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.475 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 12th. This is a 5.6% increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

Unitil has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Unitil has a payout ratio of 54.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Unitil to earn $3.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.5%.

Unitil Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:UTL traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $50.54. 40,628 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 78,853. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $905.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Unitil has a 12-month low of $44.61 and a 12-month high of $59.99.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 9.32%.The firm had revenue of $101.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.40 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Company Profile

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.