UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Position in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC cut its stake in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,510 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $4,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter worth $274,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Otter Tail during the second quarter worth about $735,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Otter Tail during the second quarter worth about $907,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,513,000. 61.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

Shares of OTTR stock opened at $89.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.71. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.15 and a 52 week high of $95.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.98.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.15. Otter Tail had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $334.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.5775 dividend. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is 49.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on OTTR. UBS Group reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research lowered Otter Tail from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Otter Tail currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.