Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Short Interest Update

Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,670,000 shares, a drop of 18.6% from the March 31st total of 3,280,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 269,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.9 days.

Otter Tail Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ OTTR traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $86.01. 121,164 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 250,381. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.84. Otter Tail has a one year low of $68.96 and a one year high of $99.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.85. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.56.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.03. Otter Tail had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 21.64%. The business had revenue of $314.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Otter Tail will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.468 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Institutional Trading of Otter Tail

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OTTR. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Otter Tail by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc purchased a new stake in Otter Tail during the fourth quarter worth about $88,000. 61.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.