Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) Position Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,561 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,574 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of Otter Tail worth $18,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 168.8% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 223,005 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,467,000 after acquiring an additional 140,044 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Otter Tail by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 291,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,513,000 after purchasing an additional 96,573 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Otter Tail by 93.5% in 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 period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Otter Tail in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,675,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 545,618 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,288,000 after purchasing an additional 71,601 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Siebert Williams Shank raised 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ OTTR traded down $0.18 on Monday, reaching $78.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 117,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,350. Otter Tail Corporation has a twelve month low of $71.66 and a twelve month high of $100.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm's 50 day moving average is $77.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.54.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $337.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.70 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.37% and a return on equity of 17.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Otter Tail's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.91%.

Otter Tail Company 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.