Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 6,256 Shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its stake in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,256 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $7,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 108.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Otter Tail by 4,836.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 14,800 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 10.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 113.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 41,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,560,000 after acquiring an additional 21,908 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Otter Tail by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,238,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $452,607,000 after acquiring an additional 197,617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Otter Tail Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ OTTR opened at $80.09 on Tuesday. Otter Tail Co. has a 12 month low of $73.43 and a 12 month high of $100.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.52.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.06. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 22.70%. The company had revenue of $338.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.468 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.83%.

Otter Tail Company Profile

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.