Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

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

Unitil Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of UTL stock opened at $52.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $942.10 million, a P/E ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56. Unitil has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $59.99.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $161.50 million for 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Unitil will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 94.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,125,000 after purchasing an additional 291,325 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,162,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings 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 worth $37,414,000 after acquiring an additional 108,254 shares during the period. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,821,000 after purchasing an additional 101,114 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.