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

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $88.80 and last traded at $88.50, with a volume of 16397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on OTTR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research raised Otter Tail to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given 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 Trading Down 0.8%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $325.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $337.40 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otter Tail

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Otter Tail in the 4th quarter valued at $106,000. Palisades Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 40,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at about $194,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at about $328,000. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Company Profile

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.