Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 145,100 shares, a drop of 31.3% from the February 13th total of 211,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE UTL opened at $56.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $914.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.10. Unitil has a one year low of $47.40 and a one year high of $63.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.43%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 6.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 723,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,835,000 after purchasing an additional 41,511 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,398,000 after purchasing an additional 49,130 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 3.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 511,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,006,000 after purchasing an additional 19,341 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Unitil by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 203,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,026,000 after buying an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

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.