Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $50.81 and last traded at $51.59, with a volume of 100713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.06.

Unitil Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $846.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.88 and a 200 day moving average of $54.88.

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

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil during the first quarter worth $7,457,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,365,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,763,000 after buying an additional 82,137 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 7,273.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 51,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,952,000 after buying an additional 50,477 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,398,000 after buying an additional 49,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 8.6% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 609,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,143,000 after buying an additional 48,225 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.