Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Bought by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,770 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Unitil were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 33,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,826,000 after buying an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 2.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 81,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,931,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 4.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 87,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,171,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 474.4% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 27,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 23,105 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UTL opened at $54.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.85. The company has a market cap of $887.23 million, a PE ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.63. Unitil Co. has a 12-month low of $45.26 and a 12-month high of $63.52.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.02%.

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.