Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 49,098 Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 48.3%, acquiring an additional 49,098 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 150,845 shares valued at $10.7 million.
• Ormat Technologies recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 22.33%.
• The stock's recent performance includes a record high of $93.26 over the past year, and it reported $0.48 EPS in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding analyst expectations.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 48.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,845 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 49,098 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.25% of Ormat Technologies worth $10,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,890,235 shares of the energy company's stock worth $133,770,000 after acquiring an additional 303,756 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,280,026 shares of the energy company's stock worth $90,587,000 after buying an additional 33,719 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Ormat Technologies by 273,109.4% during 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Ormat Technologies by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 858,674 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $58,149,000 after purchasing an additional 90,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ormat Technologies by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 620,772 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $43,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In other news, Director Dafna Sharir sold 1,601 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,269.94. The trade was a 33.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stanley Stern sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.54, for a total transaction of $46,790.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,137 shares in the company, valued at $524,958.98. This represents a 8.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,038 shares of company stock worth $337,192 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ORA. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ormat Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.30.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ORA stock traded up $2.2990 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.8990. The company had a trading volume of 584,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 560,977. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.58 and a 52-week high of $95.37. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $87.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Ormat Technologies's payout ratio is 22.33%.

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.