Man Group plc Purchases New Position in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Key Points

• Man Group acquired 14,471 Otter Tail shares worth approximately $1.3 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 61.32% of the utility’s stock, with several other funds also increasing their positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: four analysts rate Otter Tail a Hold and one rates it Sell, resulting in a consensus “Reduce” rating and an $86 price target.
• Otter Tail exceeded quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.66 versus the $1.51 consensus and revenue of $334.38 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5775 per share, equivalent to a 2.6% annualized yield.

Man Group plc acquired a new position in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,471 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,302,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of OTTR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the second quarter worth $590,053,000. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,390,000 after purchasing an additional 367,869 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Otter Tail in the second quarter valued at $32,238,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 344,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,811,000 after purchasing an additional 179,149 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 465.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 137,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,281,000 after purchasing an additional 113,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on OTTR shares. UBS Group restated a "reduce" rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research note on Friday, May 29th. 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 downgraded shares of Otter Tail from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of Otter Tail from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $86.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Otter Tail currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Otter Tail Trading Down 0.8%

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

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 14.83%.The firm's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Otter Tail's payout ratio is presently 49.78%.

About Otter Tail

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.

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