Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $1.69 Million Stock Holdings in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Unitil worth $1,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in shares of Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at $137,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Unitil in the third quarter valued at about $271,000. ClearAlpha Technologies LP acquired a new position in Unitil in the 3rd quarter worth about $301,000. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $55.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $54.40 and its 200-day moving average is $57.37. The firm has a market cap of $909.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.63. Unitil Co. has a 12 month low of $47.40 and a 12 month high of $63.52.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

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.