Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Newly Acquired by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $989,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Unitil by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 439.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in shares of Unitil by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $53.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Unitil Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.91 and a 12 month high of $57.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.61. The stock has a market cap of $973.07 million, a PE ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 0.26.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $117.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. Research analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.4750 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 59.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Unitil Profile

Unitil Corporation is a regulated public utility holding company that provides electric and natural gas distribution services in New England. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while maintaining the local infrastructure required to support safe and reliable service.

Unitil’s electric operations serve communities in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Its natural gas businesses provide distribution service primarily in New Hampshire and the greater Fitchburg area of Massachusetts.