Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Trading Down 3.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares fell 3.1% during trading on Friday 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 $1.90 and last traded at $1.91. 16,565,703 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 41,013,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.97.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $3.50 to $2.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Plug Power from $1.60 to $1.40 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Plug Power from $2.20 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Plug Power from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plug Power

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Plug Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Plug Power by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,075,988 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after buying an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Plug Power by 5.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 600,188 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 33,311 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Plug Power during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Plug Power by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,986,479 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $189,153,000 after purchasing an additional 999,194 shares in the last quarter. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plug Power Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.89 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $173.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.25 million. Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 46.99% and a negative net margin of 214.05%. Plug Power’s revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.47) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Plug Power Inc. will post -1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.