Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Short Interest Up 19.4% in June

Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the May 31st total of 2,420,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 212,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 13.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paul L. Knutson sold 4,000 shares of Otter Tail stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.66, for a total transaction of $362,640.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,746.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Otter Tail

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $130,000. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Price Performance

NASDAQ:OTTR traded up $0.52 on Tuesday, reaching $86.82. The stock had a trading volume of 174,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,998. Otter Tail has a 1-year low of $68.96 and a 1-year high of $99.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.05.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The company had revenue of $347.07 million during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Otter Tail will post 6.38 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.468 dividend. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.69%.

Otter Tail Company 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.