Vest Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Vest Financial LLC reduced its position in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,925 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $4,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Otter Tail during the third quarter worth approximately $1,046,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the third quarter worth $1,115,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the third quarter worth $3,143,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Otter Tail by 17.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,464,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $120,054,000 after purchasing an additional 221,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Otter Tail by 77.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,633,000 after buying an additional 264,009 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

Shares of OTTR stock opened at $88.16 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $87.44 and a 200 day moving average of $84.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.50. Otter Tail Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.74 and a 1 year high of $92.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 21.16%.The company had revenue of $308.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $311.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. Otter Tail’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Otter Tail from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.00.

About Otter Tail

Otter Tail Corporation, through its primary subsidiary Otter Tail Power Company, is a regulated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The company operates a diversified portfolio of owned and contracted power generation facilities, including coal, natural gas, wind and hydroelectric units, supplemented by long-term power purchase agreements. In addition to utility operations, Otter Tail provides related engineering, construction and maintenance services to support grid reliability and efficiency.

The company’s service territory covers a predominantly rural footprint in the Upper Midwest, including communities in west-central Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, northwest Wisconsin and small portions of South Dakota.