Creative Planning Has $433,000 Stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Unitil were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UTL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 402.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at approximately $181,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the first quarter valued at approximately $243,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL opened at $60.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $979.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.22 and a 200-day moving average of $56.07. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $45.26 and a 12-month high of $63.52.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $95.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.46%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 58.02%.

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.