Unitil Corporation $UTL Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P trimmed its position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.21% of Unitil worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at about $242,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 39,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 47,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $47.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.98 and a 200-day moving average of $54.30. The firm has a market cap of $846.47 million, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.66. Unitil Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.65 and a twelve month high of $63.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

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.