Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) Receives $57.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.50.

UTL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Unitil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Unitil in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Unitil in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL stock opened at $50.15 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Unitil has a fifty-two week low of $44.61 and a fifty-two week high of $55.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $902.16 million, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.33.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $216.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.13 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 9.89%. Analysts forecast that Unitil will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 60.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTL. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 3,263 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 64.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 86,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after buying an additional 34,017 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 67,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after buying an additional 10,572 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 63.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 33,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation (NYSE: UTL) is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil’s operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.