Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 223.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.12% of Unitil worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Unitil by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 27,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 0.5% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 51,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Unitil by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 35,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Unitil by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $54.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.18. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $41.43 and a 1 year high of $58.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $872.80 million, a PE ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $129.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 9.32%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.28%.

Unitil 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.