New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Position in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) by 44.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,800 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.15% of Otter Tail worth $5,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 54.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 387 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 5.1% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.7%

OTTR stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.49. The stock had a trading volume of 152,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,967. Otter Tail Corporation has a one year low of $71.66 and a one year high of $100.84. The company's 50 day moving average is $77.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $337.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.70 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.37% and a return on equity of 17.95%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Otter Tail's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Otter Tail from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

Otter Tail 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.