Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.
Unitil Price Performance
UTL opened at $51.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $824.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50. Unitil has a 1 year low of $44.02 and a 1 year high of $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.47.
Unitil (NYSE:UTL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.02. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $110.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.00 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Unitil will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unitil
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild & Co. Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in Unitil during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,391,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 338.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,339,000 after acquiring an additional 109,588 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 165.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 143,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 89,452 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Unitil in the third quarter worth approximately $3,342,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 37.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 237,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,926,000 after buying an additional 65,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.53% of the company’s stock.
About Unitil
Unitil Corporation, a public utility holding company, engages in the distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Non-Regulated. 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 the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts.