Aventail Capital Group LP Takes Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 63,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,031,000. Aventail Capital Group LP owned 0.35% of Unitil at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Unitil by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 12,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Unitil by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 8.2% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 3,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE UTL opened at $53.09 on Friday. Unitil Corporation has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $59.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $954.61 million, a P/E ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56.

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

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 63.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTL has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Unitil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.