Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 326 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 2.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $609,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 402.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 3.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Unitil by 1.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 403,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,896,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE UTL opened at $61.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $997.69 million, a PE ratio of 20.57 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.17. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $41.43 and a 1 year high of $63.52.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $95.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.67%.

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.