Otis Worldwide Co. (OTIS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 on March 7th

Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th.

Otis Worldwide has increased its dividend by an average of 18.0% annually over the last three years. Otis Worldwide has a dividend payout ratio of 34.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Otis Worldwide to earn $4.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.7%.

Otis Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of OTIS stock opened at $96.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.09. Otis Worldwide has a twelve month low of $89.37 and a twelve month high of $106.33.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 11.53%. On average, analysts forecast that Otis Worldwide will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on OTIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Otis Worldwide from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Otis Worldwide from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Otis Worldwide in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nora E. Lafreniere sold 4,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,353,358.07. The trade was a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peiming Zheng sold 32,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $3,119,988.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 169 shares in the company, valued at $16,127.67. This trade represents a 99.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,621 shares of company stock worth $10,046,255 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Otis Worldwide announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.