Ieq Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Unitil Corporation $UTL

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $828,000. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.09% of Unitil at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Unitil in the second quarter worth $152,441,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 94.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 601,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,125,000 after buying an additional 291,325 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,242,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,730,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Unitil by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,414,000 after buying an additional 108,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $53.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $974.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 0.31. Unitil Corporation has a 12 month low of $44.61 and a 12 month high of $57.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.56. 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 (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $113.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital cut Unitil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Unitil from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Unitil in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.50.

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.