UBS Group AG Sells 52,559 Shares of Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

UBS Group AG cut its holdings in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 52,559 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $7,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Otter Tail during the second quarter valued at $53,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the 4th quarter worth $106,000. USA Financial Formulas increased its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 3rd quarter worth about $122,000. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Siebert Williams Shank cut Otter Tail from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Otter Tail has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of OTTR stock opened at $88.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.65. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52-week low of $74.15 and a 52-week high of $92.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is currently 34.63%.

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.