Paloma Partners Management Co Purchases New Holdings in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 2.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 2.9% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 4,946 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 1.5% during the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 9,855 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 657 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Otter Tail by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Otter Tail from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Otter Tail from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Otter Tail Price Performance

Shares of OTTR traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $79.98. 148,461 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 232,607. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Otter Tail Co. has a 52-week low of $73.43 and a 52-week high of $100.84. The company's 50-day moving average price is $79.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.52. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.54.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $338.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.19 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Otter Tail Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.468 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Otter Tail's payout ratio is 25.83%.

Otter Tail 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.