Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR Stake Increased by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 748 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Otter Tail during the 1st quarter worth about $17,681,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 82.2% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 406,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,656,000 after purchasing an additional 183,316 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the first quarter worth approximately $13,217,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 190.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 54,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 35,505 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Otter Tail during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,379,000. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Otter Tail Stock Down 1.6%

OTTR stock opened at $80.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.56. Otter Tail Corporation has a 1 year low of $71.66 and a 1 year high of $86.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.87. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.06. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 21.82%.The company had revenue of $325.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $337.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is 31.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on OTTR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Otter Tail to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

Otter Tail 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.