Whittier Trust Co. Has $6.84 Million Stock Position in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,841 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $6,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OTTR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 3.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,026,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,862 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 235,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 8,231.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 187,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,971,000 after purchasing an additional 185,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Otter Tail

In related news, VP Jennifer O. Smestad sold 4,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,300 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,502. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Otter Tail Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ OTTR traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $84.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 69,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 221,850. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.03. Otter Tail Co. has a one year low of $68.96 and a one year high of $100.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.55. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.38. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 21.06%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Co. will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.468 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio is 25.69%.

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.