Flputnam Investment Management Co. Invests $203,000 in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 109,588 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Unitil by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 352,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,129,000 after purchasing an additional 100,420 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Unitil by 158.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 84,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,602,000 after purchasing an additional 51,655 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Unitil by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,224,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,885,000 after purchasing an additional 50,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Unitil by 91.5% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 103,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,273,000 after purchasing an additional 49,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $49.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $793.70 million, a P/E ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Unitil Co. has a 12 month low of $41.43 and a 12 month high of $59.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.49.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $129.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.28%.

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.