Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Unitil (NYSE:UTL) to “Hold”

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) was upgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on UTL. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Unitil in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Unitil to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Unitil Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $50.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $913.87 million, a PE ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Unitil has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $55.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.67.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Unitil by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,411,000 after buying an additional 68,820 shares during the last quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new stake in Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,031,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its holdings in Unitil by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 89,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,301,000 after buying an additional 41,490 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at $13,162,000. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,338,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.