Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Shares Sold by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 8,231.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 187,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,971,000 after buying an additional 185,702 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Otter Tail by 32.0% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 545,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,413,000 after acquiring an additional 132,162 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Otter Tail by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 116,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,807,000 after acquiring an additional 11,173 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Otter Tail in the 3rd quarter valued at $698,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter worth $456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Price Performance

OTTR stock opened at $85.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.64. Otter Tail Co. has a 52-week low of $68.96 and a 52-week high of $99.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.03. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 21.64% and a net margin of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $314.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.60 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.468 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

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.