Share Repurchase Plan Approved by Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) Board

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OTIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Otis Worldwide in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Otis Worldwide presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.88.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

Otis Worldwide stock traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $93.19. 1,425,052 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,972,775. The stock has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24 and a beta of 1.06. Otis Worldwide has a 12-month low of $85.42 and a 12-month high of $106.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.30.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. Otis Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 11.48%. Otis Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Abbe Luersman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total value of $909,180.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,391.84. This represents a 47.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Otis Worldwide Company 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.