Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) Announces Share Buyback Plan

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Otis Worldwide Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of OTIS traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $93.19. 1,425,052 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,972,775. The firm has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.30. Otis Worldwide has a 12-month low of $85.42 and a 12-month high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.48% and a negative return on equity of 31.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Otis Worldwide will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Otis Worldwide from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Otis Worldwide in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.88.

Insider Transactions at Otis Worldwide

In other news, EVP Abbe Luersman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $909,180.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,009,391.84. This represents a 47.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide Company Profile

Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects.