Deutsche Bank AG Takes Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 39,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unitil during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Unitil during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Unitil during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Unitil by 196.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Unitil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UTL. Weiss Ratings upgraded Unitil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Unitil in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Freedom Capital cut shares of Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.50.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL opened at $53.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Unitil Corporation has a 12-month low of $44.61 and a 12-month high of $57.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.71 and a 200-day moving average of $52.56. The stock has a market cap of $972.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 0.31.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 9.49%.The business had revenue of $113.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.94%.

Unitil 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.