Wesbanco Bank Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,400 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Ormat Technologies were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 4,691.7% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 575 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 42.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 880 shares of the energy company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 897.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ORA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ormat Technologies to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $84.14.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORA traded up $1.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.00. The company had a trading volume of 493,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 481,494. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.58 and a 12 month high of $84.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.68.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $229.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 5.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $69,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,320.30. This represents a 25.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 409 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $29,509.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $439,682.10. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,297 shares of company stock valued at $242,374 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

About Ormat Technologies

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.