Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,881 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 55,486 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Ormat Technologies worth $9,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORA. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 10.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,197 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,539 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 3,704 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,388,571 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $356,670,000 after purchasing an additional 63,943 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 1.8% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 55,555 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Ormat Technologies by 15.8% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 144,778 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,583,000 after purchasing an additional 19,797 shares in the last quarter. 95.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Ormat Technologies in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Insider Transactions at Ormat Technologies

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $517,811.88. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dafna Sharir sold 433 shares of Ormat Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $32,436.03. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $266,754.51. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ormat Technologies Price Performance

NYSE ORA opened at $79.40 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.86. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $84.30.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) last released 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. Ormat Technologies had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 5.27%. The business had revenue of $211.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Ormat Technologies’s payout ratio is 24.49%.

Ormat Technologies 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.