Bayforest Capital Ltd Acquires 6,490 Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd significantly increased its holdings in Ormat Technologies, purchasing an additional 6,490 shares and raising its position by 2,293.3% during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Harel Insurance Investments and Vanguard Group, have also made large investments in Ormat, collectively owning 95.49% of the stock.
• Ormat Technologies recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12, representing an annual yield of 0.54% and reflecting a payout ratio of 23.30%.

Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 2,293.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ORA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 1.3% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,100 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 6.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,687 shares of the energy company's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 42.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 880 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 8.8% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 0.9% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,180 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ormat Technologies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $88.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 442,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,687. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.58 and a 12 month high of $91.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.53 and a 200 day moving average of $74.30. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 43.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.68. 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 (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $229.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ormat Technologies

In other Ormat Technologies news, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $69,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,713 shares in the company, valued at $198,320.30. This trade represents a 25.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dafna Sharir sold 1,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $137,093.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,269.94. This represents a 33.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,329 shares of company stock valued at $423,443 in the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORA has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $87.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.25.

Ormat Technologies Company 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.