Bank of Montreal Can Sells 619 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 619 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.06% of Unitil worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Unitil by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 464,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,075,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 442,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,898,000 after buying an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 403,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,896,000 after buying an additional 4,224 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Unitil by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 81,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 55,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,850,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $57.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $930.10 million, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.92. Unitil Co. has a 52-week low of $44.59 and a 52-week high of $63.52.

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

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.67%.

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.