HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $7.00 price objective on the electronics maker’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target points to a potential upside of 263.64% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PLUG. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Plug Power in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Plug Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Plug Power from $3.75 to $2.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Plug Power from $1.50 to $1.65 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Plug Power in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.59.

Plug Power Trading Up 3.5%

PLUG traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $1.93. 30,156,969 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 73,603,617. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $2.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.61. Plug Power has a 1-year low of $1.70 and a 1-year high of $4.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 2.21.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The electronics maker reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $178.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.11 million. Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 56.01% and a negative net margin of 220.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Plug Power will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Plug Power

In other news, insider Benjamin Haycraft sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total transaction of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 101,249 shares in the company, valued at $216,672.86. This represents a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 232,560 shares of company stock worth $496,178 in the last three months. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Plug Power by 21.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Plug Power by 6.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Plug Power by 97.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 15,537,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Plug Power by 241.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,134,913 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $40,971,000 after purchasing an additional 12,820,616 shares in the last quarter. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Plug Power News

Here are the key news stories impacting Plug Power this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major Arcadia eFuels partnership: Plug Power signed a 280-megawatt GenEco electrolyzer supply agreement for Project ENDOR in Denmark and became the preferred electrolyzer supplier for more than 1 gigawatt of Arcadia’s planned electro-sustainable aviation fuel projects across Europe and the Americas. The initial project is progressing toward a final investment decision, potentially creating a significant future order pipeline. Plug and Arcadia eFuels partnership announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its “buy” rating and assigned a $7.00 price target, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. The endorsement may attract speculative buying despite Plug Power’s continued losses. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Sector rebound: Fuel-cell shares broadly recovered after a sharp prior-session selloff, improving risk appetite for the hydrogen and fuel-cell group and helping lift Plug Power along with peers. Fuel-cell sector rebound report
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages collectively maintain an average “hold” rating, indicating that the HC Wainwright upgrade is not yet representative of broad analyst consensus. Plug Power brokerage ratings report
• Negative Sentiment: The prior fuel-cell selloff highlights continued volatility and profit-taking risk. Plug Power’s weak profitability and negative earnings remain important concerns even as new project announcements improve its long-term growth outlook.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc is a hydrogen and fuel cell technology company that develops integrated solutions for generating, storing, distributing and using hydrogen. The company serves commercial and industrial customers seeking alternatives to conventional power sources and fossil fuels.

Its product portfolio includes electrolyzers for producing hydrogen from water, hydrogen-generation and storage systems, fuel cell engines, and stationary power systems. Plug Power also provides hydrogen-fueled material-handling equipment, including systems used to power forklifts and other warehouse vehicles, along with related infrastructure, service and maintenance offerings.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Latham, New York, Plug Power has focused on expanding hydrogen applications across logistics, material handling, backup and distributed power, transportation, and industrial markets.