Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $80.19, but opened at $76.75. Ormat Technologies shares last traded at $75.05, with a volume of 422,290 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORA shares. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.25 and its 200 day moving average is $75.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $211.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.53 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 13.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Ormat Technologies’s payout ratio is 24.49%.

Insider Activity at Ormat Technologies

In other news, Director David Granot sold 1,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $293,232. This represents a 25.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Byron G. Wong sold 1,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.98, for a total value of $94,924.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,906 shares in the company, valued at $517,811.88. This trade represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,702,522 shares of company stock valued at $279,103,917. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Susquehanna International Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,006,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 1,011.5% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 493,619 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,943,000 after acquiring an additional 449,209 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new stake in Ormat Technologies during the third quarter valued at $522,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 2.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 560,029 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $40,154,000 after acquiring an additional 15,004 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Ormat Technologies by 9.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 211,353 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,154,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ormat Technologies Company Profile

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.