Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Holdings in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 405,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,993 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.97% of Otter Tail worth $29,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Otter Tail by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Otter Tail by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of OTTR stock opened at $81.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.81. Otter Tail Co. has a one year low of $71.66 and a one year high of $100.84.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.04. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of $303.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.75 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.29%.

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.