Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OTTR traded up $3.97 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.52. The stock had a trading volume of 658,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 233,019. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.69. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.52. Otter Tail has a 1-year low of $73.43 and a 1-year high of $100.84.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $338.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.20 million. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 22.70%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Otter Tail will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Otter Tail news, VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.74, for a total transaction of $354,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,502. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otter Tail

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OTTR. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the 1st quarter valued at $657,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 36,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,154,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the 1st quarter valued at $590,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 108.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 25,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

About Otter Tail

Otter Tail Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in electric utility, manufacturing, and plastic pipe businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric, Manufacturing, and Plastics. The Electric segment produces, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and operates as a participant in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets.