Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $2.29 Million in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 43,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,285,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Unitil in the second quarter valued at about $152,441,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Unitil by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,538,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,532,000 after purchasing an additional 67,456 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 721,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,939,000 after buying an additional 31,186 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 108,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 94.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,125,000 after buying an additional 291,325 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital downgraded Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Unitil in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Unitil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Unitil Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of UTL opened at $53.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.47. Unitil Corporation has a twelve month low of $44.61 and a twelve month high of $57.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $972.94 million, a P/E ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.94%.

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.