Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 1,755,349 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 148% from the previous session’s volume of 708,132 shares.The stock last traded at $108.1890 and had previously closed at $108.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ORA shares. Roth Mkm set a $139.00 price objective on Ormat Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ormat Technologies from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ormat Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Ormat Technologies in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ormat Technologies from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.09.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.84.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. The business had revenue of $276.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $257.75 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 12.52%.Ormat Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Ormat Technologies’s payout ratio is 23.88%.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In other news, insider Jessica Woelfel sold 2,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.16, for a total transaction of $248,072.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,014.28. This trade represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 31,152 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 459.1% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,763 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,171,000 after buying an additional 38,399 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Compound Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $650,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 388,496 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,917,000 after buying an additional 12,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

About Ormat Technologies

Ormat Technologies, Inc is a leading renewable energy company specializing in geothermal and recovered energy power plants. Through its vertically integrated business model, Ormat designs, develops, engineers, constructs, owns and operates clean energy projects worldwide. The company’s core technology centers on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), which converts heat from geothermal sources or industrial waste streams into sustainable electricity without combustion.

Ormat’s offering includes turnkey power plant solutions, proprietary ORC equipment and ongoing operations and maintenance services.