Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Short Interest Down 31.3% in February

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 145,100 shares, a decline of 31.3% from the February 13th total of 211,300 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of UTL stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $56.33. 63,942 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,211. The firm has a market capitalization of $915.12 million, a P/E ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $55.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.03. Unitil has a 52 week low of $47.40 and a 52 week high of $63.52.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Unitil's payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UTL. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Unitil by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 723,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,835,000 after purchasing an additional 41,511 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Unitil by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,398,000 after purchasing an additional 49,130 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Unitil by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 511,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,006,000 after purchasing an additional 19,341 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Unitil by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Unitil by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 203,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Unitil in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

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.