Boston Trust Walden Corp Acquires 4,224 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 403,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,224 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Unitil were worth $20,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UTL. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unitil during the fourth quarter worth $131,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Unitil in the first quarter valued at about $161,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at about $237,000. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:UTL traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $58.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 65,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $948.86 million, a PE ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.46. Unitil Co. has a 1-year low of $41.43 and a 1-year high of $62.53.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Unitil’s payout ratio 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.