Wernau Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,689 Shares of Unitil Corporation $UTL

Wernau Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Unitil Corporation by 15.6% in Q2, selling 7,689 shares. Unitil now represents 1.5% of Wernau's portfolio. Other investors like Vanguard and Geode Capital increased their holdings. Unitil's stock has a consensus 'Hold' rating with a $55 target price. The company reported better-than-expected earnings and announced a $0.45 quarterly dividend.

Wernau Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,689 shares during the quarter. Unitil comprises about 1.5% of Wernau Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Wernau Asset Management Inc. owned 0.26% of Unitil worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Unitil by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,365,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $78,763,000 after buying an additional 82,137 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Unitil by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 609,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,143,000 after acquiring an additional 48,225 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Unitil by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 385,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,116,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Unitil by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 197,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,301,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,457,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Unitil in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Unitil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.00.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Unitil

Unitil Price Performance

NYSE UTL opened at $48.08 on Thursday. Unitil Corporation has a 12-month low of $44.61 and a 12-month high of $61.42. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $47.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $861.26 million, a P/E ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.62.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 9.54%.The firm had revenue of $101.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $100.40 million. Analysts forecast that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.28%.

Unitil Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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