Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $56.76, but opened at $53.85. Unitil shares last traded at $56.70, with a volume of 10,971 shares trading hands.

Unitil Trading Up 7.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $979.90 million, a PE ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.07.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $95.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 9.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Unitil Co. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Unitil’s payout ratio is 58.02%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 0.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 492,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,505,000 after buying an additional 2,891 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Unitil by 0.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 464,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Unitil by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 442,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Unitil by 1.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 403,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,896,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Unitil by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 81,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

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.