Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unitil (NYSE:UTL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of UTL stock opened at $52.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $942.10 million, a P/E ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.48. Unitil has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $59.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $161.50 million during 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, sell-side analysts predict that Unitil will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Unitil by 94.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,125,000 after buying an additional 291,325 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,162,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Unitil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Unitil by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,414,000 after acquiring an additional 108,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Unitil by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 360,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,821,000 after purchasing an additional 101,114 shares in the last quarter. 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.