Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Takes Position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of OTIS. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 485.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Otis Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 88.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on OTIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price target on Otis Worldwide from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $109.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Otis Worldwide Price Performance

NYSE:OTIS opened at $97.33 on Friday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a 1-year low of $89.70 and a 1-year high of $106.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.80. The firm has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97 and a beta of 1.01.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Otis Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is an increase from Otis Worldwide’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Otis Worldwide’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Otis Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otis Worldwide

In other news, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 63,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,731,934.30. The trade was a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 28,440 shares of Otis Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total value of $2,723,698.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,041,752.81. This trade represents a 11.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,588,044 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.