Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lessened its position in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,430 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.10% of Otter Tail worth $3,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the third quarter worth $1,046,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Otter Tail during the third quarter worth about $3,143,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,602,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Otter Tail in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,310,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 65,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,361,000 after purchasing an additional 24,185 shares during the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otter Tail Trading Down 0.0%

OTTR opened at $89.26 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $86.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 0.56. Otter Tail Corporation has a one year low of $71.79 and a one year high of $90.11.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 21.16%.The business had revenue of $308.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $311.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.5775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Otter Tail from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Otter Tail currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.