Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 442,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,790 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.73% of Unitil worth $22,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 402.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil during the second quarter worth $181,000. BOKF NA acquired a new position in shares of Unitil during the second quarter worth $235,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Unitil in the first quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Unitil by 25.1% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $59.14 on Friday. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $42.67 and a 1 year high of $63.52. The stock has a market cap of $956.29 million, a P/E ratio of 19.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.69.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $95.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 9.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. 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.