Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OTTR opened at $85.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.75 and its 200 day moving average is $85.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.52. Otter Tail has a fifty-two week low of $73.43 and a fifty-two week high of $100.84.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $338.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.20 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 20.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Otter Tail will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is currently 25.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otter Tail

In other news, VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.74, for a total value of $354,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,502. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OTTR. Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Otter Tail by 132.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Otter Tail by 46.3% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 1,811.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.