Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 96,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,827,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.59% of Unitil at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UTL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 38,616 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,000,000 after buying an additional 15,355 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Unitil by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Unitil by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,394 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $725,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in Unitil by 5.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Down 1.0 %

UTL traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.79. 41,301 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,580. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $935.56 million, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 0.62. Unitil Co. has a one year low of $45.26 and a one year high of $63.52. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $58.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.05.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.02%.

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.