13,307 Shares in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Bought by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.08% of Unitil as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in Unitil by 2.4% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 381,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,289,000 after buying an additional 8,925 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 8.1% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 3.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 25,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 158.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 84,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,602,000 after purchasing an additional 51,655 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Unitil during the third quarter worth approximately $409,000. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTL opened at $50.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $815.92 million, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Unitil Co. has a 1-year low of $41.43 and a 1-year high of $59.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.84 and its 200-day moving average is $49.73.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $129.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.28%.

Unitil Profile

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.