Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BLDP. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC raised Ballard Power Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $3.60 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ballard Power Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ballard Power Systems from $3.50 to $4.30 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.50.

Ballard Power Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLDP opened at $2.40 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.22. Ballard Power Systems has a 52-week low of $1.83 and a 52-week high of $6.57. The company has a market cap of $723.62 million, a PE ratio of -9.23 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a quick ratio of 10.36, a current ratio of 11.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The technology company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $20.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.24 million. Ballard Power Systems had a negative net margin of 72.78% and a negative return on equity of 13.23%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ballard Power Systems will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ballard Power Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Ballard Power Systems by 56.8% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 29,937 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 10,850 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Ballard Power Systems by 31.6% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 190,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 45,774 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Ballard Power Systems by 22.2% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 132,904 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 24,114 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 323.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 254,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 194,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Ballard Power Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $2,070,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.02% of the company’s stock.

About Ballard Power Systems

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) is a Canadian technology company specializing in the development and manufacture of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ballard designs and sells fuel cell stacks and modules that enable zero-emission power generation for a variety of applications, including heavy-duty motive systems, backup power, material handling equipment, and portable power solutions.

Since its founding in 1979, Ballard has built a strong intellectual property portfolio and a track record of innovation in PEM fuel cell technology.