Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 6,291 Shares of Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,291 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the second quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Otter Tail by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:OTTR opened at $86.73 on Friday. Otter Tail Corporation has a 12 month low of $71.79 and a 12 month high of $90.11. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.65.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.06. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $325.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $337.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Otter Tail Profile

Otter Tail Corporation, through its primary subsidiary Otter Tail Power Company, is a regulated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The company operates a diversified portfolio of owned and contracted power generation facilities, including coal, natural gas, wind and hydroelectric units, supplemented by long-term power purchase agreements. In addition to utility operations, Otter Tail provides related engineering, construction and maintenance services to support grid reliability and efficiency.

The company’s service territory covers a predominantly rural footprint in the Upper Midwest, including communities in west-central Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, northwest Wisconsin and small portions of South Dakota.