Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 5,574 Shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,561 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,574 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.55% of Otter Tail worth $18,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,275,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $389,511,000 after acquiring an additional 43,186 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 71,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 536,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,618,000 after acquiring an additional 27,415 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 411,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,369,000 after acquiring an additional 48,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 291,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,513,000 after acquiring an additional 96,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company's stock.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OTTR opened at $80.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.96 and a 200 day moving average of $78.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.54. Otter Tail Corporation has a 1-year low of $71.66 and a 1-year high of $100.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

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

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Otter Tail's payout ratio is currently 29.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.