Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 37,754 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,322 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PLUG. B. Riley upgraded Plug Power to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Plug Power from $3.00 to $2.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Plug Power from $2.20 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Plug Power from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Plug Power from $2.50 to $2.40 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.01.

Plug Power Price Performance

PLUG opened at $2.22 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.48. Plug Power has a 12-month low of $1.60 and a 12-month high of $6.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 1.79.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The electronics maker reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.06). Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 47.51% and a negative net margin of 216.80%. The company had revenue of $143.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.35) EPS. Plug Power’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Plug Power will post -1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plug Power

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLUG. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Plug Power by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,426,354 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after buying an additional 1,051,400 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Plug Power by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 600,188 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 33,311 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Plug Power by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 250,000 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Plug Power by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,945,162 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,532,000 after acquiring an additional 400,120 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Plug Power during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.