Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.14.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ORA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $86.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Baird R W upgraded Ormat Technologies to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock.

Ormat Technologies Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of ORA traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.32. The stock had a trading volume of 501,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,414. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.76. Ormat Technologies has a 12-month low of $61.58 and a 12-month high of $87.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.61.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.10. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The company had revenue of $229.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Ormat Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ormat Technologies will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ormat Technologies news, Director Dafna Sharir sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $65,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $332,850. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of the company'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 represents a 25.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,869 shares of company stock worth $384,785 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ormat Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bailard Inc. increased its position in Ormat Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 19,446 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 1.3% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,100 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,354 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 6.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,687 shares of the energy company's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Ormat Technologies by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,072 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company's stock.

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.