Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $90.32 and last traded at $90.13, with a volume of 150100 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $89.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Otter Tail Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $86.03 and a 200-day moving average of $83.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 0.56.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $308.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Otter Tail’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Otter Tail

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Otter Tail during the third quarter worth about $1,046,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,143,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,602,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,310,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Otter Tail by 77.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,633,000 after buying an additional 264,009 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

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.