Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $79.85 and last traded at $79.65, with a volume of 156,819 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OTTR. Weiss Ratings cut Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Siebert Williams Shank raised Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.77.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.14). Otter Tail had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 13.45%. The business had revenue of $320.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. Otter Tail’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OTTR. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 16.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Otter Tail by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in Otter Tail by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 248.8% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Company Profile

Otter Tail Corporation is a diversified company headquartered in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Through its electric utility subsidiary, Otter Tail Power Company, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers.

Otter Tail Power Company serves customers across portions of western Minnesota, eastern North Dakota and northeastern South Dakota. Its generation portfolio includes coal, natural gas, wind and other energy resources, supporting the company’s role as a regional provider of electric power and related utility services.

Beyond its utility operations, Otter Tail Corporation owns manufacturing businesses that produce fabricated metal components, plastic products and other specialized goods.