Phocas Financial Corp. Has $7.71 Million Position in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. has reduced its stake in Otter Tail Corporation by 5.5%, owning 95,905 shares worth approximately $7.7 million, making it the fund's 23rd largest holding.
• Byrne Asset Management LLC significantly increased its holdings in Otter Tail by 54.8%, while several other institutional investors also acquired stakes in the company during the first quarter.
• Otter Tail recently upgraded its quarterly earnings forecast, reporting an EPS of $1.62 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53, despite a revenue decline of 2.8% year-over-year.

Phocas Financial Corp. lessened its stake in Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,540 shares during the quarter. Otter Tail makes up approximately 1.2% of Phocas Financial Corp.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.23% of Otter Tail worth $7,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,865 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Otter Tail by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 189,345 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,981,000 after purchasing an additional 91,516 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Otter Tail by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Otter Tail by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Otter Tail Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of OTTR traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $79.76. 60,027 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 238,497. The company's 50 day moving average is $77.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.72. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52 week low of $71.66 and a 52 week high of $92.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.56.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 16.85%. The business had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Otter Tail's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.