Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $1.17 Million Investment in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OTTR. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 4th quarter worth about $81,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Otter Tail Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of OTTR stock opened at $81.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.53. Otter Tail Co. 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 0.57, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.87.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $303.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $314.75 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 18.96%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

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.