Ellsworth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,494 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $575,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Unitil at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 15,355 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,394 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Unitil by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Unitil by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 24,884 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of UTL stock traded up $0.24 on Friday, hitting $60.09. 30,350 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,943. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $971.54 million, a PE ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 0.60. Unitil Co. has a 1-year low of $44.71 and a 1-year high of $63.52. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.45 and its 200 day moving average is $55.28.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 9.53%. The business had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Unitil's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.67%.

Unitil 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.