Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE UTL opened at $47.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $857.27 million, a PE ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.67. Unitil has a 52-week low of $44.61 and a 52-week high of $59.99.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $101.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.40 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 9.04%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Unitil will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,411,000 after purchasing an additional 68,820 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Unitil by 17.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,414,000 after buying an additional 108,254 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Unitil by 8.6% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 609,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,143,000 after buying an additional 48,225 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Unitil by 2.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,103,000 after acquiring an additional 14,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 10.6% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 413,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,797,000 after acquiring an additional 39,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

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.