Squarepoint Ops LLC Trims Holdings in Otter Tail Corporation $OTTR

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its position in shares of Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) by 9.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,747 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Otter Tail were worth $5,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Otter Tail during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $590,053,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 8,634.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,887,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $349,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,842,722 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the second quarter worth $48,578,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,390,000 after acquiring an additional 367,869 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Otter Tail during the second quarter worth $32,238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.32% of the company’s stock.

Otter Tail Trading Up 0.1%

OTTR stock opened at $88.06 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Otter Tail Corporation has a 52-week low of $74.15 and a 52-week high of $95.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 0.44.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.15. Otter Tail had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 14.83%.The firm had revenue of $334.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. Otter Tail’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Otter Tail Corporation will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Otter Tail Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.5775 dividend. This represents a $2.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Otter Tail in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Otter Tail from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Otter Tail from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Otter Tail has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $86.00.

Otter Tail Profile

Otter Tail Corporation is a diversified holding company headquartered in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Its principal business is electric utility operations conducted through Otter Tail Power Company, which generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Otter Tail Power Company operates a portfolio of generation and transmission assets and provides related utility services in the upper Midwest.