Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Stock Price Up 2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) traded up 2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $57.58 and last traded at $57.65. 5,750 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 57,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Unitil in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $941.98 million, a PE ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.88.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 723,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,835,000 after purchasing an additional 41,511 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,398,000 after acquiring an additional 49,130 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 3.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 511,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,006,000 after acquiring an additional 19,341 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Unitil by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 203,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Company 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.