Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $1.33 Million Position in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,390,000 after acquiring an additional 367,869 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 18,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 5,572 shares during the period. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 24,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Down 0.9%

OTTR opened at $87.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.97 and a 200 day moving average of $86.03. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.47. Otter Tail Corporation has a 12 month low of $74.15 and a 12 month high of $92.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $347.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.10 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 15.21%. Otter Tail’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.5775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank downgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

About Otter Tail

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.