Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 109.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,825 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 0.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 492,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,891 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 0.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 464,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,075,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 1.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 442,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 1.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 403,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,896,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 3.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 81,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $60.61 on Thursday. Unitil Co. has a one year low of $44.71 and a one year high of $63.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $980.06 million, a PE ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.19.

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

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.29%.

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.