New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $1,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,238,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $452,607,000 after acquiring an additional 197,617 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 0.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,035,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,703,000 after purchasing an additional 3,974 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 435,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,102,000 after purchasing an additional 4,862 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 3.6% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 143,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,532,000 after purchasing an additional 4,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,129,000. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Otter Tail

In other Otter Tail news, VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of Otter Tail stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.74, for a total value of $354,960.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,091,502. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Otter Tail Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of OTTR opened at $79.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Otter Tail Co. has a 1 year low of $73.43 and a 1 year high of $100.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.64.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last posted 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 company had revenue of $338.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.20 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Otter Tail Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.468 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OTTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Otter Tail from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Siebert Williams Shank raised Otter Tail from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.