Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL - Free Report) by 45.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 33,202 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.25% of Unitil worth $2,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in UTL. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Unitil by 139.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,989,000 after buying an additional 19,134 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Unitil by 8,333.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Unitil by 204.2% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 32,257 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 21,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unitil by 3.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 381,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,400,000. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Unitil Trading Down 0.5 %

Unitil stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.37. 7,777 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,385. The firm has a market cap of $948.28 million, a PE ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.58. 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 50-day simple moving average of $56.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.54. Unitil Co. has a 12-month low of $48.94 and a 12-month high of $63.52.

Unitil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change 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 3.08%. Unitil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

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.