Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Shares Acquired by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Unitil were worth $834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Unitil by 6.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 723,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,835,000 after buying an additional 41,511 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Unitil by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 511,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,006,000 after acquiring an additional 19,341 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Unitil by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 442,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unitil by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 381,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 1.2% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 113,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unitil Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:UTL opened at $54.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $887.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.63. Unitil Co. has a one year low of $45.26 and a one year high of $63.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.78.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Unitil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.02%.

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.