Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $88.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Otis Worldwide traded as low as $89.70 and last traded at $90.77, with a volume of 3377869 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.96.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on OTIS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Otis Worldwide from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.88.

Insider Activity at Otis Worldwide

In other news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 38,012 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $3,588,712.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 245,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,213,814.03. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Otis Worldwide by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 183,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,123,000 after acquiring an additional 18,536 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,002,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,054,000 after buying an additional 121,322 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Otis Worldwide by 41.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,076,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,918,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161,946 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter valued at about $337,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Otis Worldwide by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,304,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,418,000 after purchasing an additional 67,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.03% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $35.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $99.21 and its 200 day moving average is $98.96.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. As a group, research analysts expect that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Otis Worldwide

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.