Otter Tail (OTTR) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Otter Tail (OTTR) closed at $64.52, marking a +1.8% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.97%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.88%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.25%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the power company and manufacturer had lost 16.3% over the past month. This has lagged the Utilities sector's loss of 9.76% and the S&P 500's loss of 9.93% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Otter Tail as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Otter Tail is projected to report earnings of $1.70 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 34.92%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $389.3 million, up 23.08% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.08 per share and revenue of $1.56 billion, which would represent changes of +67.38% and +30.01%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Otter Tail. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Otter Tail currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Otter Tail has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.95 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 17.76.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, putting it in the top 26% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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