Empower Advisory Group LLC Purchases 13,061 Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 6.5%, owning approximately 0.36% of the company, valued at $15.24 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Ormat Technologies received positive analyst ratings, with Robert W. Baird upgrading the stock to "outperform" and increasing the price target from $87.00 to $103.00.
• Ormat reported a net margin of 14.18% and a revenue of $229.76 million for the latest quarter, beating consensus estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.5%.

Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 215,327 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 13,061 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.36% of Ormat Technologies worth $15,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ORA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,687 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 880 shares of the energy company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised 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 worth $243,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted 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 buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director Byron G. Wong sold 460 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.04, for a total value of $38,658.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $727,702.36. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $69,445.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,329 shares of company stock valued at $423,443 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $98.00 target price (up previously from $88.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird raised Ormat Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $87.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ormat Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Ormat Technologies Stock Up 0.0%

ORA stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.25. 792,242 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 480,637. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.58 and a 1-year high of $91.81. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $84.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.64. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.68.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $229.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

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.