Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 16,800 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 435,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 2.69% of Unitil worth $23,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 8,333.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Unitil in the 4th quarter worth about $385,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of UTL opened at $56.76 on Friday. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $47.40 and a twelve month high of $63.52. The company has a market capitalization of $922.17 million, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.16 and a 200 day moving average of $56.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

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.