Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Unitil worth $822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Unitil by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 488,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,678,000 after purchasing an additional 83,980 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Unitil by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 6.5% during 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. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $131,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 213,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,201,000 after acquiring an additional 9,489 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Price Performance

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $51.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.00. Unitil Co. has a 52 week low of $41.43 and a 52 week high of $54.93. The company has a market capitalization of $836.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $178.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.84% and a net margin of 9.37%. As a group, analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.