Citigroup Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Citigroup Inc. decreased its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 52.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,768 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Unitil were worth $265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Unitil by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Unitil by 75.9% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 133.8% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Unitil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $226,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unitil Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Unitil stock opened at $51.78 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $836.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.58. Unitil Co. has a 12-month low of $41.43 and a 12-month high of $60.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $129.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 60.28%.

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.