Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.71.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock opened at $86.80 on Wednesday. Ormat Technologies has a 52-week low of $61.58 and a 52-week high of $88.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.48 and a 200-day moving average of $72.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $228.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ormat Technologies 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Ormat Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 23.30%.

Insider Transactions at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director Michal Marom sold 895 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total transaction of $65,755.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,287.60. This trade represents a 22.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dafna Sharir sold 1,601 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $137,093.63. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,269.94. This trade represents a 33.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,329 shares of company stock worth $423,443. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,896 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $766,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 4,691.7% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 575 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,354 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ormat Technologies

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.