Analysts Set Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Target Price at $56.50

Shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.50.

UTL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Freedom Capital lowered Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Unitil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Unitil in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Unitil during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Unitil by 196.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $53.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.52. The stock has a market cap of $981.68 million, a P/E ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 0.31. Unitil has a 1-year low of $44.61 and a 1-year high of $57.26.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 9.49%.The business had revenue of $113.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. On average, research analysts expect that Unitil will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is 59.94%.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation (NYSE: UTL) is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil’s operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.