Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys 49,891 Shares of Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 786.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,891 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $4,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Otter Tail by 2.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 116,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,815 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 190.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 54,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 35,505 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.5%

OTTR opened at $89.41 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.73. Otter Tail Corporation has a 1-year low of $73.74 and a 1-year high of $92.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $308.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $311.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.