Private Advisor Group LLC Cuts Stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 349 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Unitil by 402.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $181,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. BOKF NA acquired a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Up 7.4 %

NYSE UTL opened at $60.60 on Thursday. 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 52 week low of $45.26 and a 52 week high of $63.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $979.90 million, a PE ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.07.

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

Unitil Dividend Announcement

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