Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 201 Shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its stake in Otter Tail by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Otter Tail by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Otter Tail by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ OTTR opened at $85.04 on Wednesday. Otter Tail Co. has a twelve month low of $68.96 and a twelve month high of $99.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.64.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $314.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.60 million. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 21.64% and a net margin of 21.81%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Otter Tail Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Otter Tail Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.468 per share. This is a positive change from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Otter Tail’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

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.