Nuveen LLC Makes New $14.45 Million Investment in Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a significant stake in Ormat Technologies, purchasing 204,218 shares valued at approximately $14.45 million, representing about 0.34% of the company's total shares.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook for Ormat Technologies, with the average target price set at $93.30 and multiple firms, including Piper Sandler and Roth Capital, revising their price objectives upwards.
• Ormat Technologies recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, equating to an annual yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 22.33%.

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 204,218 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $14,453,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Ormat Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,586,479 shares of the energy company's stock worth $107,440,000 after acquiring an additional 93,418 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 2.7% during the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,280,026 shares of the energy company's stock worth $90,587,000 after acquiring an additional 33,719 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 273,109.4% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 956,233 shares of the energy company's stock worth $67,673,000 after acquiring an additional 955,883 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 858,674 shares of the energy company's stock worth $58,149,000 after acquiring an additional 90,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 620,772 shares of the energy company's stock worth $43,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORA. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (up from $88.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ormat Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Ormat Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.30.

Ormat Technologies Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of ORA traded up $2.2990 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.8990. 584,692 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 547,319. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.86. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.58 and a 52 week high of $95.37. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.14, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michal Marom sold 895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total transaction of $65,755.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $226,287.60. This trade represents a 22.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Byron G. Wong sold 535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $48,893.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,659 shares in the company, valued at $791,346.01. The trade was a 5.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,038 shares of company stock valued at $337,192 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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.