Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Buys Shares of 30,000 Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Ardsley Advisory Partners initiated a new position in Ormat Technologies, buying 30,000 shares valued at about $3.31 million in the fourth quarter.
• Ormat posted strong quarterly results, reporting $1.30 EPS versus the $0.92 estimate and revenue of $403.91 million, which was well above expectations and up 75.8% year over year.
• Despite solid performance, there has been notable insider selling, including shares sold by directors Michal Marom and Byron G. Wong, while analysts currently rate ORA as a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $131.67.

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,000 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $3,314,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 746 shares of the energy company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Ormat Technologies by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 43.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 371 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,091 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,167 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ORA stock opened at $126.43 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $125.87 and its 200-day moving average is $118.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 61.37, a PEG ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.85. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.82 and a 52 week high of $146.39.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $403.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.17 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 10.97%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 75.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.30%.

Insider Transactions at Ormat Technologies

In other Ormat Technologies news, Director Michal Marom sold 3,080 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.97, for a total transaction of $403,387.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,293.02. This trade represents a 63.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Byron G. Wong sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.32, for a total value of $604,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $795,846. This trade represents a 43.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,721 shares of company stock valued at $4,105,657. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ormat Technologies from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barclays upped their target price on Ormat Technologies from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Ormat Technologies from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.67.

Ormat Technologies Profile

Ormat Technologies, Inc is a leading renewable energy company specializing in geothermal and recovered energy power plants. Through its vertically integrated business model, Ormat designs, develops, engineers, constructs, owns and operates clean energy projects worldwide. The company's core technology centers on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), which converts heat from geothermal sources or industrial waste streams into sustainable electricity without combustion.

Ormat's offering includes turnkey power plant solutions, proprietary ORC equipment and ongoing operations and maintenance services.

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