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

Key Points

• Ormat Technologies has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 14 covered analysts, with an average 1-year price target of $131.75.
• The company beat expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $1.30 EPS versus the $0.92 estimate and $403.91 million in revenue versus the $349.17 million forecast, with revenue up 75.8% year over year.
• Recent insider activity has leaned toward selling, including large sales by the CFO and a director, while institutional investors remain heavily invested and own 95.49% of the stock.

Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $131.75.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ORA. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ormat Technologies from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock opened at $99.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.68. Ormat Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $84.13 and a fifty-two week high of $146.39.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $403.91 million for 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ormat Technologies will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Ormat Technologies's payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ormat Technologies

In other Ormat Technologies news, CFO Assi Ginzburg sold 17,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.75, for a total value of $2,395,316.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,457.50. This trade represents a 90.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Granot sold 1,766 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $237,403.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $237,403.38. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,585 shares of company stock valued at $4,090,998 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $97,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,000 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $1,319,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 90,753 shares of the energy company's stock worth $10,025,000 after buying an additional 30,910 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 259.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 71,830 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,935,000 after buying an additional 51,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $4,835,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company's stock.

About Ormat Technologies

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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