Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $372,000 Investment in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,500 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,043,996 shares of the energy company's stock worth $409,305,000 after acquiring an additional 274,540 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,415,479 shares of the energy company's stock worth $162,586,000 after purchasing an additional 163,505 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,586,479 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $107,440,000 after purchasing an additional 93,418 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,373,426 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $93,029,000 after purchasing an additional 72,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $62,851,000. 95.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ormat Technologies from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director Dafna Sharir sold 876 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $65,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $332,850. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 409 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $29,509.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $439,682.10. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,297 shares of company stock worth $242,374 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Ormat Technologies Trading Down 0.8%

ORA traded down $0.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $73.71. The company had a trading volume of 324,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,366. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.85. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.58 and a 52 week high of $84.30.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.10. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 5.27%. The business had revenue of $229.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.30%.

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.