Empowered Funds LLC Grows Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,131 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OTIS. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its position in Otis Worldwide by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 4.4% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of OTIS opened at $96.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 1.06. Otis Worldwide Co. has a twelve month low of $90.12 and a twelve month high of $106.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.17.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. Sell-side analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 38.42%.

Insider Activity at Otis Worldwide

In other Otis Worldwide news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total transaction of $3,588,712.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 245,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total transaction of $3,119,988.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169 shares in the company, valued at $16,127.67. This represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,621 shares of company stock worth $10,046,255 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OTIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

Otis Worldwide Profile

Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects.