Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Ormat Technologies in the fourth quarter, buying 783,447 shares valued at about $86.5 million. The stake represented roughly 1.29% of the company.
• Ormat posted strong quarterly results, reporting $1.30 EPS versus the $0.92 estimate and $403.9 million in revenue, well above expectations. Revenue also jumped 75.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on the stock, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.18. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, including recent sales by directors Byron G. Wong and Dafna Sharir.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 783,447 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $86,545,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.29% of Ormat Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 371 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 1,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 360 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 251.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 523 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.49% of the company's stock.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORA opened at $140.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $146.39. The stock's 50-day moving average is $122.04 and its 200 day moving average is $117.23.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $403.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.17 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 10.97%.Ormat Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 75.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Ormat Technologies's payout ratio is 23.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Ormat Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $125.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ormat Technologies from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Ormat Technologies from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ormat Technologies news, Director Byron G. Wong sold 4,500 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.32, for a total value of $604,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $795,846. The trade was a 43.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dafna Sharir sold 883 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.44, for a total value of $108,114.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $384,461.60. This trade represents a 21.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,721 shares of company stock worth $4,105,657. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ormat Technologies

Ormat Technologies, Inc is a leading renewable energy company specializing in geothermal and recovered energy power plants. Through its vertically integrated business model, Ormat designs, develops, engineers, constructs, owns and operates clean energy projects worldwide. The company's core technology centers on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), which converts heat from geothermal sources or industrial waste streams into sustainable electricity without combustion.

Ormat's offering includes turnkey power plant solutions, proprietary ORC equipment and ongoing operations and maintenance services.

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