Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) vs. Ener-Core (OTCMKTS:ENCR) Critical Contrast

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) and Ener-Core (OTCMKTS:ENCR) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.5% of Ormat Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Ormat Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Ener-Core shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Ormat Technologies has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ener-Core has a beta of 42.1, suggesting that its stock price is 4,110% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ormat Technologies and Ener-Core, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ormat Technologies	1	5	8	0	2.50
Ener-Core	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ormat Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $131.67, suggesting a potential upside of 13.17%. Given Ormat Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ormat Technologies is more favorable than Ener-Core.

Profitability

This table compares Ormat Technologies and Ener-Core’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ormat Technologies	10.97%	6.61%	2.80%
Ener-Core	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ormat Technologies and Ener-Core”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ormat Technologies	$989.54 million	7.23	$123.90 million	$2.06	56.48
Ener-Core	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Ormat Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Ener-Core.

Summary

Ormat Technologies beats Ener-Core on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Product segment designs, manufactures, and sells equipment for geothermal and recovered energy-based electricity generation; and provides services relating to the engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants. This segment serves contractors; and owners and operators of interstate natural gas pipelines, gas processing plants, and cement plants, as well as companies in other energy-intensive industrial processes. The Energy Storage segment offers battery energy storage systems and related services. Ormat Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

About Ener-Core

Ener-Core, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, license, and market its products that are based on Power Oxidizer technologies. The company's Power Oxidizer technology generates industrial levels of usable heat in a pressure vessel using various organic gases as fuel for an oxidation reaction. Its products include Ener-Core PowerStation EC250 and Ener-Core Powerstation KG2-3GEF/PO, which have applications in landfills, distilleries, and various industrial processes. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors in the United States and the Netherlands. Ener-Core, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.