Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 43,186 Shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,275,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,186 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.61% of Otter Tail worth $389,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OTTR. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Otter Tail in the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 43,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.6 %

OTTR stock opened at $81.76 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.08 and a 200 day moving average of $78.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.53. Otter Tail Co. has a twelve month low of $71.66 and a twelve month high of $100.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $303.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.75 million. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 22.67%. On average, research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.29%.

Otter Tail 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.