Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stock Position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,331 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.12% of Otter Tail worth $3,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Otter Tail by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Otter Tail by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Otter Tail by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Otter Tail by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of OTTR stock opened at $77.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.49. Otter Tail Co. has a 1 year low of $71.66 and a 1 year high of $100.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.63.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 22.67%. The business had revenue of $303.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.75 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

About Otter Tail

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.