Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 91,860 shares valued at about $10.15 million.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on ORA, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $133.18. Several firms recently raised their targets, including UBS and Oppenheimer.
• Ormat reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS of $1.30 versus the $0.92 estimate and revenue up 75.8% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.12, yielding about 0.4% annually.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,860 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 17,447 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.15% of Ormat Technologies worth $10,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,545,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $331,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 387.6% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 106,877 shares of the energy company's stock worth $11,807,000 after buying an additional 84,959 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,360 shares of the energy company's stock worth $178,033,000 after buying an additional 102,864 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 8,810 shares of the energy company's stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the period. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORA has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.18.

Insider Transactions at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director Byron G. Wong sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.32, for a total value of $604,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $795,846. This represents a 43.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michal Marom sold 3,080 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.97, for a total transaction of $403,387.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,766 shares in the company, valued at $231,293.02. This represents a 63.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,721 shares of company stock valued at $4,105,657 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ORA stock opened at $136.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 66.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.50. 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 twelve month low of $77.47 and a twelve month high of $146.39.

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

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

Ormat Technologies Company Profile

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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