Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Shares Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 43.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,318 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Otter Tail worth $2,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 52,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,851,000 after buying an additional 6,331 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Otter Tail by 359.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,514,000 after purchasing an additional 55,210 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Otter Tail by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 536,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,618,000 after purchasing an additional 27,415 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Otter Tail by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Otter Tail by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Otter Tail Price Performance

NASDAQ OTTR opened at $76.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.56. Otter Tail Co. has a 1 year low of $71.66 and a 1 year high of $100.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.03.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.09. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company had revenue of $337.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Siebert Williams Shank raised Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $82.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Otter Tail Profile

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.