Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.63, but opened at $2.85. Plug Power shares last traded at $2.85, with a volume of 17,636,029 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Plug Power from $2.50 to $2.25 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Plug Power from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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, November 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.52.

Plug Power Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.38 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.23.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The electronics maker reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $173.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.25 million. Plug Power had a negative net margin of 214.05% and a negative return on equity of 46.99%. The company’s revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.47) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Plug Power Inc. will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Plug Power by 69.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,530,346 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036,777 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Plug Power by 45.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 63,780 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 19,824 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Plug Power by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 356,973 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 29,134 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Plug Power by 97.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,296,047 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,020,000 after buying an additional 638,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Plug Power by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,102 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 7,014 shares during the last quarter. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.