Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $86.77 and last traded at $86.38, with a volume of 13769 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $84.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Otter Tail to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Otter Tail Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 3.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.09.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $325.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $337.40 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 15.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 77.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,633,000 after purchasing an additional 264,009 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Otter Tail by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $120,054,000 after acquiring an additional 221,039 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 465.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 137,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,281,000 after acquiring an additional 113,276 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 183.2% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 169,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,859,000 after acquiring an additional 109,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 31.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 409,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,542,000 after acquiring an additional 98,243 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Otter Tail

Otter Tail Corporation, through its primary subsidiary Otter Tail Power Company, is a regulated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The company operates a diversified portfolio of owned and contracted power generation facilities, including coal, natural gas, wind and hydroelectric units, supplemented by long-term power purchase agreements. In addition to utility operations, Otter Tail provides related engineering, construction and maintenance services to support grid reliability and efficiency.

The company’s service territory covers a predominantly rural footprint in the Upper Midwest, including communities in west-central Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, northwest Wisconsin and small portions of South Dakota.