Jennifer O. Smestad Sells 4,000 Shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Stock

Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.74, for a total transaction of $354,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,502. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Otter Tail Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Otter Tail stock traded down $1.69 on Wednesday, hitting $87.57. The company had a trading volume of 54,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,436. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.71 and a 200-day moving average of $88.40. Otter Tail Co. has a 1 year low of $68.96 and a 1 year high of $100.84.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.38. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The company had revenue of $342.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. Otter Tail’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otter Tail

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OTTR. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Otter Tail by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 1.5% in the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 9,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Otter Tail by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 48,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,115,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Otter Tail by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 46.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Otter Tail

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.