Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $2.67 Million Investment in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 36,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,672,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of OTTR opened at $78.68 on Wednesday. Otter Tail Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.66 and a fifty-two week high of $100.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.03.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its earnings results 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. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The business had revenue of $303.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.75 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.29%.

About Otter Tail

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.