Stifel Financial Corp Acquires Shares of 3,041 Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Otter Tail by 285.1% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 19,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 14,089 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the third quarter valued at approximately $683,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 178,816.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 10,729 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Otter Tail during the second quarter worth approximately $627,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in Otter Tail by 240.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 12,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 8,624 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Siebert Williams Shank raised Otter Tail from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

Shares of Otter Tail stock opened at $74.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.72 and a 200-day moving average of $82.89. Otter Tail Co. has a 1-year low of $73.26 and a 1-year high of $100.84.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.06. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 22.70%. The firm had revenue of $338.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is 25.83%.

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.