Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Stock Has Average Price Target of $58.67 According to Brokerages

Shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.67.

A number of equities analysts have commented on UTL shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Unitil from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Huntington initiated coverage on Unitil in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock.

Unitil Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE UTL opened at $52.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.84 and its 200 day moving average is $52.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Unitil has a 12 month low of $46.91 and a 12 month high of $57.26. The stock has a market cap of $954.48 million, a PE ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.26.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $117.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 million. Research analysts predict that Unitil will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $152,441,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Unitil in the 2nd quarter worth $26,864,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,242,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Unitil during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,730,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at about $5,314,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Company 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.