Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $3 Million Holdings in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,618 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,318 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Otter Tail worth $2,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OTTR. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Otter Tail by 359.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,514,000 after buying an additional 55,210 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Otter Tail by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Otter Tail by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,541 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,947 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 NASDAQ:OTTR traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.22. The company had a trading volume of 155,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,867. Otter Tail Co. has a 12 month low of $71.66 and a 12 month high of $100.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.49.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Otter Tail's payout ratio is presently 29.91%.

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.