Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Otter Tail shares rose above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as $91.39 and last changing hands near $90.09. The move comes after a period of technically constructive price action.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed to cautious, with the consensus rating at “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00. Recent analyst actions included rating downgrades from Zacks Research and Siebert Williams Shank, while UBS kept a “reduce” rating.
• The utility continues to show solid fundamentals, including a better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $1.73 versus estimates of $1.42 and a 2.6% dividend yield. Otter Tail also reported revenue growth of 2.9% year over year and maintains relatively low leverage.

Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $87.35 and traded as high as $91.39. Otter Tail shares last traded at $90.09, with a volume of 296,242 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OTTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered Otter Tail from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Otter Tail from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "reduce" rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank lowered shares of Otter Tail from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Otter Tail Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business's 50 day moving average is $88.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.35. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.45.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.31. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 21.34%.The business had revenue of $347.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Otter Tail's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.5775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Otter Tail's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,019,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $82,385,000 after buying an additional 4,164 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 77.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 605,504 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,633,000 after buying an additional 264,009 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 217.6% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,390,000 after buying an additional 367,869 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 31.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 409,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,542,000 after buying an additional 98,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 344,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,811,000 after buying an additional 179,149 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Company Profile

Otter Tail Corporation, through its primary subsidiary Otter Tail Power Company, is a regulated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The company operates a diversified portfolio of owned and contracted power generation facilities, including coal, natural gas, wind and hydroelectric units, supplemented by long-term power purchase agreements. In addition to utility operations, Otter Tail provides related engineering, construction and maintenance services to support grid reliability and efficiency.

The company's service territory covers a predominantly rural footprint in the Upper Midwest, including communities in west-central Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, northwest Wisconsin and small portions of South Dakota.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.