Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 655 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.10% of Otter Tail worth $3,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OTTR. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $589,000. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the third quarter worth $238,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at $455,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 359.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,514,000 after acquiring an additional 55,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

Shares of Otter Tail stock opened at $81.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.03. Otter Tail Co. has a 1 year low of $71.66 and a 1 year high of $100.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.53.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.04. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 22.67%. The company had revenue of $303.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.75 million. Equities analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is 29.29%.

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.