Meritage Portfolio Management Has $353,000 Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Unitil were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 139.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 19,134 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 204.2% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 32,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 21,652 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 381,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,126,000 after buying an additional 11,324 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the third quarter valued at $1,400,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 109.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 3,825 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UTL opened at $55.09 on Friday. Unitil Co. has a twelve month low of $45.26 and a twelve month high of $63.52. The firm has a market cap of $891.83 million, a PE ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $54.75 and a 200-day moving average of $57.70.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $92.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.00 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.46%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.02%.

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.