Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $102.88.

OTIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research cut Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Otis Worldwide Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Otis Worldwide stock opened at $101.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.91 and its 200-day moving average is $98.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.05. Otis Worldwide has a 12-month low of $90.12 and a 12-month high of $106.83.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.02). Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. Analysts expect that Otis Worldwide will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Otis Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.42%.

Otis Worldwide declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Otis Worldwide

In other news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.41, for a total value of $450,807.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,358.07. This represents a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 6,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.30, for a total value of $701,298.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,731,934.30. This represents a 9.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,281 shares of company stock valued at $10,747,553 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Otis Worldwide

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OTIS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 471,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,960,000 after purchasing an additional 6,261 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Otis Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Otis Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Otis Worldwide by 543.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Otis Worldwide by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. 88.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Company Profile

Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects.