Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,396 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 118,688 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.39% of Otter Tail worth $12,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Otter Tail by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,275,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $389,511,000 after acquiring an additional 43,186 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Otter Tail by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 545,618 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,288,000 after acquiring an additional 71,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Otter Tail by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 536,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,618,000 after acquiring an additional 27,415 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Otter Tail by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 411,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,369,000 after acquiring an additional 48,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Otter Tail by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 405,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,916,000 after acquiring an additional 8,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Otter Tail Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of OTTR traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.22. 155,163 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,867. Otter Tail Co. has a 52-week low of $71.66 and a 52-week high of $100.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.03.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.09. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 22.67%. The business had revenue of $337.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Otter Tail's payout ratio is 29.91%.

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.