Otter Tail Co. (OTTR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 on March 10th

Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Otter Tail’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Otter Tail has raised its dividend by an average of 6.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Otter Tail has a payout ratio of 37.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Otter Tail to earn $4.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.87 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.4%.

Otter Tail Trading Up 0.2 %

Otter Tail stock opened at $79.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.57. Otter Tail has a 12-month low of $71.66 and a 12-month high of $100.84.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $338.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.20 million. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Otter Tail will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on OTTR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Otter Tail from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

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.