Aurora Investment Counsel Decreases Stake in Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Aurora Investment Counsel lessened its position in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,562 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 4,311 shares during the period. Ormat Technologies makes up approximately 1.5% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Ormat Technologies were worth $2,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 324.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,918 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 19,043 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Ormat Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 234,467 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $16,593,000 after buying an additional 43,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ormat Technologies by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,592 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 2,329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ORA shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $131.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.18.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Ormat Technologies stock opened at $138.43 on Friday. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.24 and a 52-week high of $146.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $124.61 and a 200-day moving average of $118.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $349.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 75.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Ormat Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 23.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michal Marom sold 3,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.97, for a total value of $403,387.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,293.02. This represents a 63.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stanley Stern sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.42, for a total transaction of $34,605.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,836. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,721 shares of company stock worth $4,105,657 in the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.