Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Shares Up 3.4% – Should You Buy?

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares traded up 3.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $2.46 and last traded at $2.41. 29,488,670 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 46,581,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLUG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Plug Power from $2.50 to $2.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Plug Power from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Plug Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Plug Power from $2.20 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Plug Power in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Plug Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.52.

Plug Power Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The electronics maker reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.01). Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 46.99% and a negative net margin of 214.05%. The company had revenue of $173.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.47) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Plug Power Inc. will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLUG. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Plug Power by 23.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,194,629 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $43,388,000 after buying an additional 3,662,456 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Plug Power by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,637,039 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $15,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,500 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Plug Power by 44.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,426,354 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Plug Power by 69.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,530,346 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,777 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Plug Power during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.48% of the company’s stock.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc develops hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers GenDrive, a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system that provides power to material handling electric vehicles; GenSure, a stationary fuel cell solution that offers modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; ProGen, a fuel cell stack and engine technology used in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems, and as engines in electric delivery vans; GenFuel, a liquid hydrogen fueling delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system; GenCare, an ongoing Internet of Things-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products, and ProGen fuel cell engines; and GenKey, an integrated turn-key solution for transitioning to fuel cell power.