Short Interest in Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) Rises By 19.4%

Otter Tail Co. (NASDAQ:OTTR) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the May 31st total of 2,420,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 212,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 13.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Otter Tail

In other news, VP Paul L. Knutson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.66, for a total transaction of $362,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,359 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,746.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OTTR. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Otter Tail by 85.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 2,702 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 34.0% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Otter Tail by 17.8% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 15,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Otter Tail in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. 61.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otter Tail Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ OTTR traded up $0.52 on Tuesday, hitting $86.82. 174,999 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 232,998. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.55. Otter Tail has a 12 month low of $68.96 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $88.69 and a 200-day moving average of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $347.07 million for the quarter. Otter Tail had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 21.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that Otter Tail will post 6.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Otter Tail Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.468 dividend. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Otter Tail’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.