Unitil Corporation UTL announced that its board of directors has increased dividends by 5.9%. The new quarterly dividend will be 45 cents per share compared with the previous quarter’s 42.5 cents. The new dividend will be payable on Feb. 28, 2025, to stockholders of record as of Feb. 13, 2025.

The increased dividend rate resulted in an annualized dividend of $1.80 per share compared with the previous level of $1.70. The company targets 55-65% annual dividend payout ratio. The current dividend yield is 3.17%, higher than the Zacks S&P 500 composite's average of 1.19%.

Can UTL Stock Sustain Dividend Hikes?

The company continues to benefit from its long-term capital investment plans and decoupled rates. The majority of customers remain at decoupled rates, providing revenue stability to the company.

Unitil’s projects capital investment of $910 million through 2028. This projection is nearly 47% higher than that in the prior five years. The company’s capital investments are also focused on upgrading metering infrastructure to optimize system utilization and customer end-use. It expects long-term rate base growth of 6.5-8.5%, driven by capital expenditures. The ongoing interest rate cuts should also help the company lower its capital servicing costs, increasing margins and profitability.

UTL’s planned regulated investments should further improve the reliability and safety of its services and provide efficient electric and natural gas services to its increasing customer base. This is because its investments are becoming increasingly balanced between the electric and gas divisions.

The company is also focused on cost control initiatives. It anticipates operation and maintenance expenses to grow less than or equal to inflation. These cost control measures should boost its margins over the long term. UTL expects an 8-10% annual total shareholder return.

Unitil’s growth prospects and ability to further enhance its performance indicate that management will have enough funds to sustain its shareholder-friendly initiatives in the future.

Utilities’ Legacy of Dividend Payment

Companies involved in utility services generally have stable operations and earnings. Consistent performance, regulated returns and the ability to generate cash flows allow utilities to reward shareholders with regular dividends.

In the past few months, NiSource NI, ONE Gas OGS and WEC Energy Group WEC have raised their quarterly dividend rate by 5.7%, 1% and 6.9%, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NiSource’s 2025 earnings per share (EPS) implies an improvement of 8.7% year over year. NI’s current dividend yield is 2.81%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ONE Gas’ 2025 EPS implies an improvement of 9.7% year over year. OGS’ current dividend yield is 3.75%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WEC Energy’s 2025 EPS indicates an improvement of 7.6% year over year. WEC’s current dividend yield is 3.36%.

UTL’s Stock Price Performance

In the past year, shares of the company have risen 12.9% compared with the industry’s growth of 16.8%. 

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UTL’s Zacks Rank

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

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NiSource, Inc (NI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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