Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Stock Position in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its stake in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA - Free Report) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,641 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 147,086 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.34% of Ormat Technologies worth $14,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ormat Technologies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,043,996 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $409,305,000 after buying an additional 274,540 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,415,479 shares of the energy company's stock worth $162,586,000 after purchasing an additional 163,505 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Ormat Technologies by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,586,479 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $107,440,000 after purchasing an additional 93,418 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,373,426 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $93,029,000 after purchasing an additional 72,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,851,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Granot sold 1,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $114,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,790. This trade represents a 46.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 409 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,242 shares of company stock valued at $156,427. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ormat Technologies Stock Up 0.6 %

ORA stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $72.71. 105,321 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 484,091. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.10, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.58 and a 52-week high of $84.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.80.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $229.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 5.27%. Ormat Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Ormat Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ormat Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ormat Technologies to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.56.

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.