Riverwater Partners LLC Sells 25,762 Shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Riverwater Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 81.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,762 shares during the quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC's holdings in Unitil were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Unitil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Unitil by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,374 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 19,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Unitil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Unitil Stock Down 1.0 %

Unitil stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $55.39. 17,104 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,130. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $899.90 million, a PE ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $56.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.62. Unitil Co. has a one year low of $47.40 and a one year high of $63.52.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Unitil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

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.