Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on UTL shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Unitil in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Unitil in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Unitil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th.

Unitil Price Performance

UTL opened at $50.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $899.61 million, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.92. Unitil has a 52-week low of $44.61 and a 52-week high of $55.08.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $216.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.13 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 9.89%. As a group, analysts predict that Unitil will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Unitil by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,471,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,411,000 after purchasing an additional 68,820 shares during the last quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,031,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its position in shares of Unitil by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 89,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,301,000 after purchasing an additional 41,490 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,162,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Unitil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $718,000. 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.