SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 60.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,718 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Otter Tail by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,238,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $452,607,000 after purchasing an additional 197,617 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Otter Tail by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,026,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Otter Tail by 1.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 235,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,313,000 after acquiring an additional 4,358 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Otter Tail by 8,231.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 187,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,971,000 after acquiring an additional 185,702 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Otter Tail during the second quarter valued at about $11,129,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otter Tail

In other Otter Tail news, VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.74, for a total transaction of $354,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,300 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,502. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Otter Tail Price Performance

OTTR stock opened at $90.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.20. Otter Tail Co. has a 12-month low of $68.96 and a 12-month high of $100.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.55.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.38. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 22.84%. The firm had revenue of $342.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Otter Tail Co. will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.69%.

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.