Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Position in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,500 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 35,757 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 9,540 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 7,350 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 6,484 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 2,290 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 53,105 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ardsley Advisory Partners LP purchased a new position in Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,016,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company's stock.

Ormat Technologies Stock Down 1.9%

ORA traded down $1.44 on Tuesday, reaching $73.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 276,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,396. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.58 and a fifty-two week high of $84.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.40.

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

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $69,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,320.30. This trade represents a 25.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 409 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $29,509.35. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $439,682.10. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,192 shares of company stock worth $225,872. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Ormat Technologies in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ormat Technologies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.29.

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.