StockNews.com Downgrades Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) to Sell

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Otter Tail Trading Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ OTTR opened at $82.49 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.73 and a 200-day moving average of $85.67. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.52. Otter Tail has a 12 month low of $73.43 and a 12 month high of $100.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $338.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.20 million. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 22.70%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Otter Tail will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Otter Tail news, VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were 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 $1,091,502. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Otter Tail

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,238,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $452,607,000 after purchasing an additional 197,617 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Otter Tail by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,035,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,703,000 after buying an additional 3,974 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Otter Tail by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 435,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,102,000 after buying an additional 4,862 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Otter Tail by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 143,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,532,000 after buying an additional 4,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Otter Tail in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

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.