Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $81.43 and traded as high as $88.29. Otter Tail shares last traded at $87.85, with a volume of 150,132 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OTTR. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research raised Otter Tail to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Otter Tail Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.06. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 15.96% and a net margin of 21.48%.The business had revenue of $325.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $337.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.5775 dividend. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter valued at about $253,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,143,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,602,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Otter Tail in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,310,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Company Profile

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.