Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $9.33 Million Stock Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 172,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,119 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Unitil were worth $9,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UTL. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the third quarter worth $5,827,000. Wernau Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the fourth quarter worth $2,673,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 6.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 723,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,835,000 after buying an additional 41,511 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the third quarter worth $1,400,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Stock Down 2.2 %

UTL stock opened at $55.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $893.87 million, a PE ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.97. Unitil Co. has a 52 week low of $47.40 and a 52 week high of $63.52. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is an increase from Unitil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Unitil’s payout ratio is 61.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.