Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Otter Tail by 32.0% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 545,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,413,000 after buying an additional 132,162 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Otter Tail by 10.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 116,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,807,000 after buying an additional 11,173 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Otter Tail in the third quarter worth about $698,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the third quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 508,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,632,000 after purchasing an additional 11,061 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of OTTR opened at $83.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.45 and a 200 day moving average of $82.27. Otter Tail Co. has a twelve month low of $68.96 and a twelve month high of $99.49.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $314.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.60 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 21.64%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Otter Tail Company Profile

Otter Tail Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in electric utility, manufacturing, and plastic pipe businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric, Manufacturing, and Plastics. The Electric segment produces, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and operates as a participant in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets.