Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $28,000 Stock Holdings in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 798.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $28,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wernau Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 4th quarter worth about $2,673,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,082,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Unitil by 139.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 19,134 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Unitil by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 381,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Unitil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $451,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $58.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $948.28 million, a P/E ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.55. Unitil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.94 and a fifty-two week high of $63.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Unitil’s payout ratio is 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.