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

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paul L. Knutson sold 4,000 shares of Otter Tail stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.66, for a total value of $362,640.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Otter Tail

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OTTR. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Otter Tail by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 53.9% in the 4th 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 4th quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the 4th quarter valued at about $130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.6 %

OTTR stock traded up $0.52 on Tuesday, hitting $86.82. 174,999 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,998. Otter Tail has a 12-month low of $68.96 and a 12-month high of $99.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.55.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 22.55%. The company had revenue of $347.07 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Otter Tail will post 6.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

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

About Otter Tail

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.