Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $19.94 Million Stock Position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 3.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 227,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,419 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $19,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Otter Tail by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Otter Tail by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. 61.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otter Tail

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

Otter Tail Stock Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ:OTTR opened at $81.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Otter Tail Co. has a 12-month low of $68.96 and a 12-month high of $100.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.69%.

Otter Tail 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.