51,376 Shares in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 1st, 2022

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 51,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,563,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UTL. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Unitil by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Unitil by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 152,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,012,000 after buying an additional 9,595 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil during the 4th quarter worth about $672,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 13,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 34,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. 72.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $54.77 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $878.02 million, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.45. Unitil Co. has a 52-week low of $40.53 and a 52-week high of $61.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35. Unitil had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 8.83%. The business had revenue of $192.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 11th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Unitil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $53.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, July 22nd.

Unitil Company Profile

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Unitil Corporation, a public utility holding company, engages in the distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Non-Regulated. 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 the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts.