Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 84,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,885 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Unitil were worth $4,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Unitil by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 34,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Stock Performance

Unitil stock opened at $56.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $924.10 million, a PE ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.63. Unitil Co. has a one year low of $47.40 and a one year high of $63.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Unitil’s payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

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.