Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Key Points

• Ormat Technologies has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating by Baird R W, indicating increased analyst confidence in the stock's potential.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with price targets being adjusted upward by several firms, notably UBS Group raising their target from $100.00 to $105.00.
• Ormat Technologies reported earnings of $0.68 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, while also seeing a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.5%.

Baird R W upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ormat Technologies from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ormat Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.25.

Ormat Technologies Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock traded down $0.31 on Wednesday, hitting $88.41. 153,288 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 503,947. Ormat Technologies has a one year low of $61.58 and a one year high of $91.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.35. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Ormat Technologies's payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director Michal Marom sold 895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total value of $65,755.65. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $226,287.60. This represents a 22.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dafna Sharir sold 1,601 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $137,093.63. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $277,269.94. This trade represents a 33.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,329 shares of company stock valued at $423,443 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ormat Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORA. Curio Wealth LLC raised its stake in Ormat Technologies by 29,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 293 shares of the energy company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 880 shares of the energy company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 886 shares of the energy company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 294.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 887 shares of the energy company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.49% of the company's stock.

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.