Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) announced its earnings results on Monday. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 9.49%. The business had revenue of $112.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.11 million.

Unitil Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE UTL traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $56.42. 110,274 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 125,791. Unitil has a 12 month low of $46.91 and a 12 month high of $57.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.42.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4750 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 59.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on UTL shares. Huntington initiated coverage on Unitil in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Unitil from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.67.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation is a regulated public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Its operations focus primarily on the distribution of energy through local utility networks rather than the production of electricity or natural gas.

Through its operating subsidiaries, Unitil provides electric distribution service in portions of New Hampshire and Massachusetts and natural gas distribution service in parts of southern New Hampshire and central Massachusetts.