Texas Permanent School Fund lowered its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Unitil worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Unitil by 338.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,339,000 after purchasing an additional 109,588 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Unitil during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,342,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Unitil by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,224,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,885,000 after acquiring an additional 50,451 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,420,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Unitil by 43.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,439,000 after purchasing an additional 38,540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.53% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have issued reports on UTL. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Unitil in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Unitil from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th.
Unitil Price Performance
Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 7.45%. Equities analysts forecast that Unitil Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Unitil Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 15th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.
Unitil Profile
UNITIL Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in the local distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, and Others. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Hampton, NH.
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