Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Holdings Reduced by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC decreased its position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,678 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 83,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,926 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,672,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,167,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 115,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,507,000 after acquiring an additional 43,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 536,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,618,000 after acquiring an additional 27,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Otter Tail Stock Down 0.3 %

OTTR stock opened at $82.26 on Wednesday. Otter Tail Co. has a 12 month low of $71.66 and a 12 month high of $100.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The business had revenue of $303.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.75 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.29%.

Otter Tail Profile

Otter Tail Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in electric utility, manufacturing, and plastic pipe businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric, Manufacturing, and Plastics. The Electric segment produces, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and operates as a participant in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets.