Flputnam Investment Management Co. Invests $203,000 in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Unitil by 57.8% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Unitil by 133.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Unitil by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in Unitil during the third quarter worth $213,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Up 1.1 %

UTL opened at $49.12 on Friday. Unitil Co. has a 52 week low of $41.43 and a 52 week high of $59.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.49. The firm has a market cap of $793.70 million, a P/E ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $129.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Unitil’s payout ratio is 60.28%.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation, a public utility holding company, engages in the distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through two segments, Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations. The company distributes electricity in the southeastern seacoast and state capital regions of New Hampshire, and the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts; and distributes natural gas in southeastern New Hampshire and portions of southern and central Maine, including the city of Portland and the Lewiston-Auburn area, as well as electricity and natural gas in the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts.