Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires Shares of 15,828 Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,828 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,120,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,043,996 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $409,305,000 after purchasing an additional 274,540 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,415,479 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $162,586,000 after buying an additional 163,505 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,586,479 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $107,440,000 after buying an additional 93,418 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,373,426 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $93,029,000 after buying an additional 72,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,851,000. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

Ormat Technologies stock opened at $84.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.58 and a 1-year high of $85.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.94 and its 200 day moving average is $70.77.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.10. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The company had revenue of $229.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Ormat Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dafna Sharir sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $65,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $332,850. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $69,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,320.30. This represents a 25.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,888 shares of company stock worth $212,865 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.14.

Ormat Technologies Profile

Ormat Technologies, Inc engages in the geothermal and recovered energy power business in the United States, Indonesia, Kenya, Turkey, Chile, Guatemala, Guadeloupe, New Zealand, Honduras, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Electricity, Product, and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment develops, builds, owns, and operates geothermal, solar photovoltaic, and recovered energy-based power plants; and sells electricity.