Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 118,041 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 111% compared to the average daily volume of 55,960 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on PLUG shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Plug Power from $2.00 to $1.80 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price target on shares of Plug Power in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Plug Power in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Plug Power from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Plug Power from $2.50 to $2.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.03.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Plug Power by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 129,599,295 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $255,311,000 after acquiring an additional 19,967,339 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Plug Power by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,258,283 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $63,549,000 after acquiring an additional 7,416,943 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Plug Power by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,268,670 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $61,611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,456,323 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Plug Power by 241.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,134,913 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $40,971,000 after purchasing an additional 12,820,616 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Plug Power by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,695,077 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $41,230,000 after purchasing an additional 714,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.48% of the company’s stock.

Plug Power Stock Performance

Plug Power stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $3.55. 85,035,696 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 86,506,938. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 2.06. Plug Power has a one year low of $0.69 and a one year high of $4.58.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The electronics maker reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $225.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.38 million. Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 45.97% and a negative net margin of 229.83%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.48) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Plug Power will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc is a U.S.-based company specializing in the design and manufacture of hydrogen fuel cell systems that serve as clean energy replacements for conventional batteries in electric vehicles and material handling equipment. Its core solutions include ProGen fuel cell engines, GenDrive power systems for forklifts and warehouse vehicles, and GenFuel hydrogen refueling infrastructure. These offerings are sold as standalone components or integrated turnkey solutions under the GenKey brand, providing customers with on-site refueling, equipment installation and maintenance services.

In addition to its fuel cell and refueling products, Plug Power develops backup power and off-grid energy solutions through its GenSure line, which targets telecommunications, data centers and utility applications.