First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Makes New Investment in Unitil Corporation $UTL

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 45.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 27.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Unitil in the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil in the first quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Teton Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Unitil in the first quarter worth approximately $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $50.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $884.48 million, a PE ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.65. Unitil Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $61.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.40.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $101.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 9.54%. Equities research analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.