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

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.32 and its 200-day moving average is $75.65.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The energy company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Ormat Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 180.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 107.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 617 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ormat Technologies by 44.0% in the third 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 acquired a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ormat Technologies by 311.1% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.