Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $90.07 and last traded at $89.47, with a volume of 61515 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ORA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Five 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.71.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $80.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.82. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.64.

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 firm had revenue of $229.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 5.35%. Ormat Technologies's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.30%.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In other Ormat Technologies news, Director Stanley Stern sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.54, for a total transaction of $46,790.38. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,137 shares in the company, valued at $524,958.98. This represents a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dafna Sharir sold 1,601 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $137,093.63. Following the sale, the director owned 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $277,269.94. This trade represents a 33.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,329 shares of company stock valued at $423,443. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ormat Technologies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORA. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $766,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 107,034 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,248,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Ormat Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,617 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.