Inspire Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 12,764 Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,046,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter valued at $253,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Otter Tail in the third quarter valued at $3,143,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Otter Tail during the second quarter valued at about $4,602,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Otter Tail during the third quarter worth about $1,310,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter worth about $313,000. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otter Tail Trading Down 0.5%

Otter Tail stock opened at $87.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 3.57. Otter Tail Corporation has a 1 year low of $71.79 and a 1 year high of $88.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.43.

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

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.5775 dividend. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is currently 31.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OTTR. Weiss Ratings raised 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 research note on Friday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.00.

Otter Tail 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.