Boston Trust Walden Corp Cuts Stock Position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL)

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its holdings in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 383,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,160 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 2.36% of Unitil worth $22,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 798.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 27.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Unitil by 8,333.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil during the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Up 0.1%

UTL stock opened at $51.85 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $55.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.66. Unitil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $63.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $843.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 0.65.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.04). Unitil had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $207.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.03 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 61.43%.

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.