Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 156,300 shares, an increase of 24.0% from the June 30th total of 126,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 59,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Unitil Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of UTL stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,769. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.50. Unitil has a 52 week low of $41.43 and a 52 week high of $60.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $959.85 million, a PE ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.60.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.11. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.84% and a net margin of 9.37%. The firm had revenue of $178.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unitil will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Unitil’s payout ratio is 56.67%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTL. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Unitil by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 488,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,678,000 after buying an additional 83,980 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Unitil in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,346,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Unitil by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 401,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,093,000 after buying an additional 19,855 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Unitil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,028,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Unitil by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 83,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,364,000 after purchasing an additional 15,518 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.