Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.47

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of 0.475 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, August 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th.

Unitil has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Unitil has a payout ratio of 57.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Unitil to earn $3.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.1%.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE UTL traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,343. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.39 and its 200 day moving average is $51.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.31. Unitil has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $57.26.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $216.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.13 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 9.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Unitil will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.