Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $83.62 and traded as high as $86.92. Otter Tail shares last traded at $85.73, with a volume of 233,856 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Otter Tail from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.00.

Otter Tail Stock Down 0.1%

The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $86.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $308.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.5775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Institutional Trading of Otter Tail

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OTTR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Otter Tail by 129.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Otter Tail during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.