Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The utilities provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $101.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.40 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 9.46%.

Unitil Price Performance

Unitil stock opened at $48.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $855.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Unitil has a 1 year low of $44.61 and a 1 year high of $61.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.95.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unitil

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Unitil by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 717,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,414,000 after buying an additional 108,254 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Unitil by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 107,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,600,000 after buying an additional 16,993 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Unitil by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 90,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,721,000 after buying an additional 18,346 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in 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. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in 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. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Unitil has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

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.