Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $105.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ormat Technologies traded as high as $91.81 and last traded at $90.45, with a volume of 395957 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.38.

ORA has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insider Transactions at Ormat Technologies

In other news, Director David Granot sold 950 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $69,445.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,320.30. The trade was a 25.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stanley Stern sold 547 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.54, for a total value of $46,790.38. Following the completion of 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 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. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ormat Technologies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 42.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 880 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 60.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 890 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 294.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 887 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $66,000. 95.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.50. The company has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The energy company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $229.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.33 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Ormat Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

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.