Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Raised to “Overweight” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $86.00 price target on the energy company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ORA. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Ormat Technologies in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ormat Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.14.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORA opened at $77.83 on Friday. Ormat Technologies has a 1 year low of $61.58 and a 1 year high of $84.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.15 and its 200 day moving average is $70.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.65.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $229.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 13.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ormat Technologies will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Ormat Technologies’s payout ratio is 23.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dafna Sharir sold 876 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $65,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,438 shares in the company, valued at $332,850. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michal Marom sold 895 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total transaction of $65,755.65. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,287.60. The trade was a 22.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,297 shares of company stock worth $242,374. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ormat Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Ormat Technologies by 4,691.7% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 575 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Ormat Technologies by 42.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 880 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Ormat Technologies by 294.2% in the first 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. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ormat Technologies by 60.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 890 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during 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.