Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Unitil Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $52.40 on Friday. Unitil has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $59.99. The company has a market capitalization of $942.10 million, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.45 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Analysts forecast that Unitil will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Unitil by 100.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unitil in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

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.