Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $93.00 and last traded at $93.0060, with a volume of 54366 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research cut Otter Tail from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank downgraded Otter Tail from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Otter Tail Stock Up 3.4%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.48. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.04.

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

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Otter Tail

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Otter Tail by 77.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264,009 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,390,000 after purchasing an additional 367,869 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 786.4% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 56,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 49,891 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 86.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 11,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 4th quarter valued at $3,556,000. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

About Otter Tail

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.