Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein to Strong Sell Rating

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ORA. Citigroup increased their target price on Ormat Technologies from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ormat Technologies from $106.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.67.

Ormat Technologies Stock Down 5.6%

Shares of NYSE:ORA opened at $126.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ormat Technologies has a 52-week low of $80.82 and a 52-week high of $146.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.73. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.85.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.38. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The company had revenue of $403.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Ormat Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ormat Technologies will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Ormat Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 23.30%.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In related news, Director Dafna Sharir sold 883 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.44, for a total transaction of $108,114.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $384,461.60. This trade represents a 21.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director David Granot sold 1,766 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $237,403.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,766 shares in the company, valued at $237,403.38. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,721 shares of company stock worth $4,105,657. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ormat Technologies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORA. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ormat Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $86,545,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 886,526 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,000 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 62.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,073,639 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after purchasing an additional 413,384 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 32.7% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,147,863 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $128,469,000 after purchasing an additional 282,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 5,810.5% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 254,625 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,317 shares during the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.