Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 36,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,672,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Otter Tail at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 52,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 6,331 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the fourth quarter worth $455,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 359.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,514,000 after acquiring an additional 55,210 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 536,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,618,000 after acquiring an additional 27,415 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.9 %

Otter Tail stock opened at $78.68 on Wednesday. Otter Tail Co. has a twelve month low of $71.66 and a twelve month high of $100.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is 29.29%.

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.