JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Position in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 77.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 605,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 264,009 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.44% of Otter Tail worth $49,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OTTR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Otter Tail by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 116,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 26.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 4,815 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Otter Tail during the first quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 190.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 54,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 35,505 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otter Tail Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:OTTR opened at $85.58 on Friday. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52-week low of $71.79 and a 52-week high of $90.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Otter Tail presently has an average 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.