Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Talen Energy from $453.00 to $422.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Talen Energy from $482.00 to $501.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Talen Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Talen Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Talen Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Talen Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $466.86.

Talen Energy Price Performance

TLN opened at $296.11 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $358.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $356.13. Talen Energy has a 12-month low of $294.75 and a 12-month high of $451.28. The firm has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.01 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.82.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($2.00) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.21 by ($5.21). The firm had revenue of $747.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.81 million. Talen Energy had a negative net margin of 5.38% and a positive return on equity of 43.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Talen Energy will post 21.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Talen Energy

In other news, Director Gizman I. Abbas sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $988,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $990,280. This trade represents a 49.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Talen Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Talen Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,132,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Talen Energy by 400.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,287,000 after purchasing an additional 11,287 shares in the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP acquired a new stake in Talen Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $1,694,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Talen Energy by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 GPS Investments IC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Talen Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,636,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Talen Energy Company Profile

Talen Energy Inc is an independent power producer that develops and operates a diversified portfolio of thermal and renewable generation facilities across the United States. The company supplies wholesale electricity and related services to utilities, large industrial customers, and power marketers, participating actively in regional markets such as PJM Interconnection and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Talen’s asset base comprises a mix of natural gas-fired, coal-fired and nuclear generation, supplemented by battery storage and other flexible resources designed to support the evolving needs of the grid.

Established in December 2015 through the combination of the competitive generation businesses previously held by two major utility groups, Talen Energy was structured as a standalone, publicly traded entity on the NASDAQ stock exchange (TLN).