Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $92.00 and last traded at $91.88, with a volume of 276237 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Otter Tail from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.00.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OTTR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 129.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 44.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.