Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 93,695 Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 71.2% in the first quarter, buying 93,695 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 225,372 shares worth about $25.2 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several large investors also adding to or holding significant positions in Ormat Technologies; institutions now own 95.49% of the company.
• Ormat delivered strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $1.30 versus the $0.92 consensus and revenue of $403.91 million, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $131.75.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 71.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,372 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 93,695 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.37% of Ormat Technologies worth $25,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,910,292 shares of the energy company's stock worth $211,036,000 after buying an additional 43,749 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,360 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $178,033,000 after acquiring an additional 102,864 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Ormat Technologies by 62.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,073,639 shares of the energy company's stock worth $89,928,000 after acquiring an additional 413,384 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in Ormat Technologies by 155.8% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 886,526 shares of the energy company's stock worth $97,935,000 after acquiring an additional 540,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,545,000. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In other Ormat Technologies news, Director Stanley Stern sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.42, for a total value of $34,605.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $802,836. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Byron G. Wong sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.32, for a total transaction of $604,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $795,846. This trade represents a 43.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 30,585 shares of company stock worth $4,090,998 over the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ormat Technologies from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ormat Technologies from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.75.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock opened at $103.72 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $125.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.98. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.13 and a 52 week high of $146.39. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 50.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.88.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 10.97%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 75.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.30%.

Ormat Technologies 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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