Aurora Investment Counsel Decreases Stock Holdings in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Aurora Investment Counsel trimmed its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 84.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 37,575 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel's holdings in Unitil were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Unitil by 66.0% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 38,616 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,000,000 after buying an additional 15,355 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Unitil by 109.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 3,825 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Unitil by 21.1% in the second quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,009 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,394 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Unitil in the third quarter worth $725,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Unitil by 9.5% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 24,884 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 2,161 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Performance

NYSE:UTL opened at $59.27 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.63. Unitil Co. has a 1 year low of $45.26 and a 1 year high of $63.52. The company has a market capitalization of $959.58 million, a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.61.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Unitil's payout ratio is currently 58.02%.

About Unitil

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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