6,379 Shares in Unitil Corporation $UTL Acquired by Midwest Trust Co

Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter worth $6,644,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Unitil in the second quarter valued at about $512,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Unitil by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 197,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,301,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 2.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 35,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,845,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of UTL stock opened at $48.25 on Thursday. Unitil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $61.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $864.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.55.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $101.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.40 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 62.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

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.