Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Now Covered by Analysts at Scotiabank

Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Unitil (NYSE:UTL) in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a sector perform rating and a $57.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $54.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.01. Unitil has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $59.99. The company has a market capitalization of $980.99 million, a P/E ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.45.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.45 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.33%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 37.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Unitil by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 64.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 86,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 34,017 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 67,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 10,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 63.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 33,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation (NYSE: UTL) is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil’s operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.