Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 387,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,159 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Unitil were worth $20,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Unitil by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Unitil by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 5,770 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Unitil by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 33,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Unitil by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UTL opened at $54.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Unitil Co. has a 1-year low of $45.26 and a 1-year high of $63.52. The company has a market capitalization of $876.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.04 and a 200-day moving average of $57.76.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $92.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 9.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 58.02%.

Unitil 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.