Annex Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Unitil worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UTL. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 27,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Unitil by 0.5% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 51,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Unitil by 1.1% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 35,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Unitil by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Price Performance

Unitil stock opened at $50.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $810.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $41.43 and a 1 year high of $54.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.00.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $178.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $209.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.84%. Sell-side analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.67%.

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.