Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on OTTR. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Otter Tail has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of OTTR opened at $79.86 on Friday. Otter Tail has a fifty-two week low of $77.79 and a fifty-two week high of $95.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $320.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.87 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is 55.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OTTR. Virtus Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Otter Tail by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC now owns 5,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Otter Tail by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 20,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Otter Tail by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 9,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Otter Tail by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 21,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otter Tail Company Profile

Otter Tail Corporation is a diversified company based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Its businesses operate in the electric utility, manufacturing and plastics industries.

Through Otter Tail Power Company, the corporation generates, transmits and distributes electricity to customers in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The utility traces its history to 1907.

Its other businesses manufacture products such as metal components and fabricated assemblies, as well as plastic products for commercial and industrial applications.