Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Increases Holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,182 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $1,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OTIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,349,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,871 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3,673.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,261,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,662,000 after buying an additional 2,201,988 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 699.5% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,033,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,705,000 after buying an additional 904,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 274.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 714,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,250,000 after buying an additional 523,518 shares during the period. 88.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on OTIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Abbe Luersman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $909,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,009,391.84. The trade was a 47.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE OTIS opened at $94.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.29. Otis Worldwide Co. has a one year low of $85.61 and a one year high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.01). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.48% and a negative return on equity of 31.28%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 38.90%.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Company Profile

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.