Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $1.41, but opened at $1.55. Plug Power shares last traded at $1.5750, with a volume of 24,061,772 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PLUG shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $1.20 target price on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective (up from $3.50) on shares of Plug Power in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Plug Power to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Plug Power in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.40.

Plug Power Trading Up 6.0%

The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.19 and a beta of 2.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The electronics maker reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $178.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.11 million. Plug Power had a negative net margin of 220.59% and a negative return on equity of 56.01%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Plug Power, Inc. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Plug Power

In other news, insider Benjamin Haycraft sold 200,000 shares of Plug Power stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total value of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 101,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,672.86. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 241,935 shares of company stock valued at $509,397. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLUG. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 184,032,469 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $498,728,000 after purchasing an additional 31,939,194 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Plug Power by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,763,529 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $105,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214,427 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Plug Power by 97.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,738,500 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $62,689,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685,900 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Plug Power by 446.9% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 19,014,270 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $51,529,000 after buying an additional 15,537,320 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Plug Power by 241.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,134,913 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $40,971,000 after buying an additional 12,820,616 shares in the last quarter. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc is a clean-energy technology company that develops hydrogen and fuel-cell solutions for commercial and industrial customers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Latham, New York, the company focuses on replacing conventional batteries and fossil-fuel-powered equipment with hydrogen-based power systems.

Its product portfolio includes fuel-cell systems for material-handling equipment, backup and stationary power, and commercial vehicles; hydrogen engines and fuel-cell stacks; electrolyzers that produce hydrogen from water; and hydrogen generation, storage, and delivery infrastructure.