Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Purchased by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Unitil were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $60.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $979.58 million, a P/E ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 0.60. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $41.43 and a twelve month high of $63.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Unitil had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 56.67%.

About Unitil

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.