Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Shares Down 4.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares traded down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Craig Hallum lowered their price target on the stock from $4.00 to $3.00. Craig Hallum currently has a buy rating on the stock. Plug Power traded as low as $1.87 and last traded at $1.88. 19,712,677 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 40,832,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.97.

PLUG has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.60 to $1.40 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $2.20 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BTIG Research cut shares of Plug Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Plug Power from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Plug Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plug Power

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Plug Power during the first quarter worth about $10,687,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Plug Power by 134.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,458,537 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,858 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Plug Power by 25.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,051,400 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 69.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,530,346 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,777 shares during the period. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Plug Power Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.07 and a 200 day moving average of $2.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.81.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The electronics maker reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.01). Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 47.36% and a negative net margin of 214.05%. The company had revenue of $173.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.47) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Plug Power Inc. will post -1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plug Power Company Profile

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.