Unitil (NYSE:UTL) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTLGet Free Report)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $49.30 and traded as high as $50.17. Unitil shares last traded at $47.9320, with a volume of 580,641 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Unitil in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Unitil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on UTL

Unitil Trading Down 4.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $858.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.27.

Unitil (NYSE:UTLGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $101.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.40 million. Unitil had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 9.32%. Research analysts predict that Unitil Corporation will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Unitil’s payout ratio is 62.28%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Unitil in the 2nd quarter valued at $290,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unitil during the 1st quarter worth $7,457,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Unitil by 10.3% in the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Unitil in the second quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Unitil during the first quarter worth about $629,000. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

About Unitil

(Get Free Report)

Unitil Corporation (NYSE: UTL) is a publicly traded energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas distribution services. The company delivers energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers through a network of distribution systems, offering safe and reliable service across its service areas. Unitil’s operations include system maintenance, emergency response, meter reading and customer support functions, all governed by state regulatory commissions.

Headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire, Unitil serves communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.

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