Unitil Corporation $UTL Stock Holdings Lowered by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its holdings in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 340,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,041 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 1.89% of Unitil worth $17,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Unitil by 94.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,125,000 after buying an additional 291,325 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil in the third quarter worth about $8,338,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 17.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,414,000 after buying an additional 108,254 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Unitil by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 146,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after acquiring an additional 72,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Unitil by 4.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,411,000 after acquiring an additional 68,820 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE UTL opened at $53.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $962.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.35. Unitil Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.61 and a 52 week high of $55.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $216.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.13 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 9.89%. On average, research analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 60.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on UTL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank started coverage on Unitil in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Unitil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Unitil in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Freedom Capital cut Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unitil currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Unitil 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.