UNITIL Corporation (UTL) Shares Bought by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of UNITIL Corporation (NYSE:UTL) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 774 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of UNITIL Corporation worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UTL. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of UNITIL Corporation by 0.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 342,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,445,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of UNITIL Corporation by 5.0% in the first quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,891,000 after buying an additional 3,060 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of UNITIL Corporation by 9.9% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 493,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,200,000 after buying an additional 44,400 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of UNITIL Corporation by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 510,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,004,000 after buying an additional 28,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P increased its position in shares of UNITIL Corporation by 17,834.4% in the first quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 10,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 10,879 shares during the last quarter. 59.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of UNITIL Corporation (NYSE:UTL) traded down 0.22% on Wednesday, reaching $49.70. 13,795 shares of the company were exchanged. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.23. UNITIL Corporation has a 12 month low of $37.31 and a 12 month high of $52.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $701.52 million, a P/E ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.21.

UNITIL Corporation (NYSE:UTL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $80.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.10 million. UNITIL Corporation had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 7.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that UNITIL Corporation will post $2.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. UNITIL Corporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.90%.

WARNING: This report was published by [[site]] and is owned by of [[site]]. If you are reading this report on another domain, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of U.S. and international copyright and trademark law. The legal version of this report can be read at [[permalink]].

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of UNITIL Corporation in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. BidaskClub raised shares of UNITIL Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of UNITIL Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st.

UNITIL Corporation Company Profile

Unitil Corporation is a public utility holding company. The Company’s principal business is the local distribution of electricity in the southeastern seacoast and state capital regions of New Hampshire and the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts and the local distribution of natural gas in southeastern New Hampshire, portions of southern Maine to the Lewiston-Auburn area and in the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UTL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UNITIL Corporation (NYSE:UTL).