Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Talen Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Susquehanna set a $449.00 target price on shares of Talen Energy in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Talen Energy from $508.00 to $503.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on Talen Energy from $411.00 to $408.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Talen Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Talen Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $466.86.

Talen Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TLN opened at $296.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $358.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $356.13. Talen Energy has a 52-week low of $294.75 and a 52-week high of $451.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.82, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a PE ratio of -71.01 and a beta of 1.90.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($2.00) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by ($5.21). Talen Energy had a positive return on equity of 43.32% and a negative net margin of 5.38%.The company had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $832.81 million. Analysts forecast that Talen Energy will post 21.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Talen Energy news, Director Gizman I. Abbas sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $988,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $990,280. This represents a 49.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Talen Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Talen Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Talen Energy in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Talen Energy by 1,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 96 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Talen Energy during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Talen Energy by 404.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Talen Energy Company Profile

Talen Energy Inc is an independent power producer that develops and operates a diversified portfolio of thermal and renewable generation facilities across the United States. The company supplies wholesale electricity and related services to utilities, large industrial customers, and power marketers, participating actively in regional markets such as PJM Interconnection and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Talen’s asset base comprises a mix of natural gas-fired, coal-fired and nuclear generation, supplemented by battery storage and other flexible resources designed to support the evolving needs of the grid.

Established in December 2015 through the combination of the competitive generation businesses previously held by two major utility groups, Talen Energy was structured as a standalone, publicly traded entity on the NASDAQ stock exchange (TLN).