Northern Trust Corp Increases Stock Position in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 858,674 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 90,100 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.42% of Ormat Technologies worth $58,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORA. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $2,144,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 465.5% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 36,342 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,461,000 after acquiring an additional 29,915 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 342.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 34,141 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 26,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in Ormat Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $389,000. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 409 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Granot sold 1,666 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total transaction of $114,954.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,790. This trade represents a 46.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,242 shares of company stock valued at $156,427 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ORA stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 321,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,769. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.11 and a 200-day moving average of $71.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.58 and a twelve month high of $84.30.

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

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ORA. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Baird R W raised Ormat Technologies to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ormat Technologies from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.33.

Ormat Technologies 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.