WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires 1,277 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned 0.12% of Unitil worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UTL. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Unitil by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 9,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 15,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in Unitil by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 34,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $57.98 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.89. Unitil Co. has a 52 week low of $47.40 and a 52 week high of $63.52. The stock has a market cap of $941.98 million, a PE ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This is a boost from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Unitil’s payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Unitil 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.