Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) Trading Up 8.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Ballard Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) shot up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $3.39 and last traded at $3.4350. 2,129,469 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 3,203,386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities raised shares of Ballard Power Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.50 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of Ballard Power Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ballard Power Systems from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.69.

Ballard Power Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $950.87 million, a P/E ratio of -10.58 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 9.14 and a current ratio of 9.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.74.

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The technology company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. Ballard Power Systems had a negative net margin of 91.50% and a negative return on equity of 14.62%. The firm had revenue of $33.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.24 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ballard Power Systems, Inc. will post -0.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLDP. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 204.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,993,972 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,145,000 after purchasing an additional 2,682,355 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,968,824 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625,542 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 117.1% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,720,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467,547 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,916,541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,408,000 after purchasing an additional 829,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,418,389 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 726,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.