Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Reaches New 12-Month High at $59.71

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $59.71 and last traded at $59.46, with a volume of 8195 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $58.31.

Unitil Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $961.31 million, a P/E ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.53 and a 200 day moving average of $51.25.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.11. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.84% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $178.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $209.00 million. Research analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 56.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 1.2% in the first quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Unitil by 1.9% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 19,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 5.0% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Unitil by 10.0% in the second quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

About Unitil

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.