Bayforest Capital Ltd Grows Stake in Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd significantly increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 2,293.3%, acquiring a total of 6,773 shares valued at approximately $479,000.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Ormat Technologies, with an average target price of $93.30, reflecting a mix of ratings including one "Strong Buy" and several "Buy" and "Hold" evaluations.
• Ormat Technologies recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, which represents a 0.5% yield and indicates a payout ratio of 22.33%.

Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 2,293.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,773 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 6,490 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Ormat Technologies were worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies during the first quarter worth about $593,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 6.5% during the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 215,327 shares of the energy company's stock worth $15,239,000 after acquiring an additional 13,061 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in Ormat Technologies by 273,109.4% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 956,233 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $67,673,000 after purchasing an additional 955,883 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 4,485.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,844 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 38,975 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 26.2% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,400 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. 95.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (up previously from $88.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ormat Technologies from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Ormat Technologies from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Ormat Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.30.

Ormat Technologies Stock Down 0.4%

ORA stock opened at $90.23 on Wednesday. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $61.58 and a one year high of $95.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.97, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $234.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.26 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.47% and a net margin of 14.49%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Ormat Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Assi Ginzburg sold 7,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.71, for a total value of $669,220.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 33,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,203,565.75. This represents a 17.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stanley Stern sold 876 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.98, for a total transaction of $80,574.48. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $483,906.78. The trade was a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,976 shares of company stock valued at $1,105,067. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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