Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Sells 8,500 Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Nicola Wealth Management LTD. reduced its stake in Ormat Technologies by 22.1%, selling 8,500 shares, leaving them with 30,000 shares valued at approximately $2.1 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their positions in Ormat Technologies, with significant stakes lifted by firms such as UMB Bank and Signaturefd LLC during the first quarter.
• Analysts have varying ratings for Ormat Technologies, with recent reports reflecting upgrades from UBS and Baird, while overall, the stock maintains a "Moderate Buy" average rating with a target price of around $93.30.

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.'s holdings in Ormat Technologies were worth $2,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ORA. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $304,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,592 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,329 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 2,293.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 6,773 shares of the energy company's stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 6,490 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 234,467 shares of the energy company's stock worth $16,593,000 after buying an additional 43,483 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ormat Technologies news, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 692 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total transaction of $65,442.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,234 shares in the company, valued at $494,979.38. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Byron G. Wong sold 535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $48,893.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,346.01. This trade represents a 5.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,976 shares of company stock valued at $1,105,067 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORA. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $98.00 price objective (up from $88.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Baird R W upgraded Ormat Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ormat Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.50.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock traded up $2.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.16. 357,091 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,901. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.69. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.58 and a 1-year high of $95.36.

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

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

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

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.