Man Group plc Invests $1.30 Million in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Otter Tail by 248.8% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Otter Tail by 129.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Otter Tail during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Otter Tail during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Otter Tail during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ OTTR opened at $88.88 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.24 and its 200 day moving average is $88.89. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.15 and a 52 week high of $95.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.44.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $334.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.13 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.5775 per share. This represents a $2.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OTTR has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Otter Tail from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Zacks Research lowered Otter Tail from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of Otter Tail from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Otter Tail has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Otter Tail Profile

Otter Tail Corporation, through its primary subsidiary Otter Tail Power Company, is a regulated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The company operates a diversified portfolio of owned and contracted power generation facilities, including coal, natural gas, wind and hydroelectric units, supplemented by long-term power purchase agreements. In addition to utility operations, Otter Tail provides related engineering, construction and maintenance services to support grid reliability and efficiency.

The company’s service territory covers a predominantly rural footprint in the Upper Midwest, including communities in west-central Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, northwest Wisconsin and small portions of South Dakota.