HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 174,218 Unitil Corporation $UTL

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 174,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,338,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 100.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Unitil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Unitil by 207.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in Unitil by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Unitil by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 3,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Price Performance

UTL opened at $52.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Unitil Corporation has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $59.99. The stock has a market cap of $944.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 0.48.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $161.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.45 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 9.37%. Analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were given a $0.475 dividend. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 63.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unitil presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.