Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Ormat Technologies, Inc. $ORA

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) by 71.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 225,372 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,695 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ormat Technologies were worth $25,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,910,292 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $211,036,000 after acquiring an additional 43,749 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,360 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,033,000 after acquiring an additional 102,864 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 62.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,073,639 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after acquiring an additional 413,384 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Ormat Technologies by 155.8% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 886,526 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $97,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ormat Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,545,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Ormat Technologies Stock Performance

ORA stock opened at $103.72 on Tuesday. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $84.13 and a one year high of $146.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.35, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.98.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $403.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.17 million. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 75.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Ormat Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 23.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ormat Technologies from $126.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ormat Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ormat Technologies from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, May 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell 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 $131.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ormat Technologies

In other news, Director Michal Marom sold 3,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was 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 $231,293.02. This trade represents a 63.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Granot sold 1,766 shares of the business’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 approximately $237,403.38. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,585 shares of company stock valued at $4,090,998. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.