Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $92.60 and last traded at $92.23, with a volume of 36113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OTTR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Otter Tail from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank downgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.10.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $347.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.10 million. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 21.34%.Otter Tail’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.5775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is presently 34.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otter Tail

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 217.6% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,390,000 after buying an additional 367,869 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Otter Tail by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,633,000 after buying an additional 264,009 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Otter Tail by 17.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $120,054,000 after buying an additional 221,039 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 344,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,811,000 after acquiring an additional 179,149 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 465.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 137,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,281,000 after acquiring an additional 113,276 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Otter Tail Company 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.