Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $1.33 Million Stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,402 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Unitil worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Unitil by 133.8% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil during the fourth quarter valued at about $131,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Unitil during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Unitil in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in Unitil during the fourth quarter worth $237,000. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Performance

UTL traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.29. 13,998 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 50,787. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.81 and its 200 day moving average is $49.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Unitil Co. has a one year low of $41.43 and a one year high of $58.11. The firm has a market cap of $812.69 million, a P/E ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 0.58.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The business 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Unitil’s payout ratio is 60.28%.

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.