Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $3.33 Million Position in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,663 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.10% of Otter Tail worth $3,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 31,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 21,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OTTR. 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 report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment 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, Otter Tail has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

Otter Tail Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ OTTR opened at $87.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.04. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.15 and a 52 week high of $92.24.

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

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.5775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is presently 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.