Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $67.52, but opened at $69.47. Ormat Technologies shares last traded at $67.76, with a volume of 119,858 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORA. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.57.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.53.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The energy company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $211.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.53 million. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 5.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Ormat Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Orix sold 3,700,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $278,906,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,976,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,336,684.26. The trade was a 55.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Granot sold 1,256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $102,992.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $293,232. The trade was a 25.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ORA. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ormat Technologies by 180.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 617 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. DMC Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ormat Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 311.1% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

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.