Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Acquired by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,641 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC owned 0.13% of Unitil worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Unitil by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 488,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,678,000 after acquiring an additional 83,980 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Unitil by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 213,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,201,000 after acquiring an additional 9,489 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in Unitil by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 119,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,284,000 after buying an additional 6,505 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Unitil by 22.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 83,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,364,000 after buying an additional 15,518 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Unitil by 3.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 81,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.91. 37,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,871. The firm has a market capitalization of $936.29 million, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.60. Unitil Co. has a 1-year low of $41.43 and a 1-year high of $62.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 9.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.67%.

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.