Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 10,067 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,067 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.06% of Unitil worth $536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Unitil by 75.9% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Unitil by 133.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Unitil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Unitil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $48.33 on Wednesday. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $41.43 and a twelve month high of $59.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.50. The company has a market cap of $780.93 million, a P/E ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $129.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 60.28%.

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.