Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.53

Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.525 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Otter Tail has raised its dividend by an average of 6.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Otter Tail has a payout ratio of 37.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Otter Tail to earn $4.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.87 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.4%.

Otter Tail Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ:OTTR traded up $2.73 on Wednesday, reaching $78.91. 114,972 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 222,276. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.57. Otter Tail has a 1-year low of $71.66 and a 1-year high of $100.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.77 and its 200-day moving average is $80.73.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $338.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.20 million. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 22.70%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.19 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on OTTR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Siebert Williams Shank raised Otter Tail from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.