Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.13% of Unitil worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 1.2% in the first quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 19,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 10.0% in the second quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Unitil by 7.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $60.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $975.09 million, a P/E ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.23. Unitil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.43 and a fifty-two week high of $63.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 9.53%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.67%.

About Unitil

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.