Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $102.88.

OTIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $3,588,712.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 245,883 shares in the company, valued at $23,213,814.03. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,731,934.30. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otis Worldwide

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OTIS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,003,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,167,806,000 after buying an additional 149,123 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,523,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,289,868,000 after buying an additional 7,447,860 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,126,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,787,000 after buying an additional 95,035 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,785,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,980,000 after buying an additional 435,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Otis Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth $649,883,000. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of OTIS opened at $101.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.05. Otis Worldwide has a one year low of $90.12 and a one year high of $106.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.16.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Otis Worldwide

Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects.