Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 391 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 39,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Unitil by 0.5% during the second quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 45,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,674,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Unitil by 0.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 44,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. raised its holdings in Unitil by 0.4% in the first quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 65,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,276,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund raised its holdings in Unitil by 2.3% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 11,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Unitil by 2.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.53% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $51.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $832.16 million, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50. Unitil Co. has a 52-week low of $44.02 and a 52-week high of $61.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.46.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $110.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 9.02%. On average, analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 10th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Unitil 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.