18,600 Shares in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its position in Otter Tail by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 14,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Otter Tail by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Otter Tail by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on OTTR. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research lowered Otter Tail from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Siebert Williams Shank cut Otter Tail from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Otter Tail Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of OTTR opened at $89.66 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.44. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.15 and a 52 week high of $92.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.31. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 21.34%.The company had revenue of $347.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.5775 dividend. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.63%.

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.