Plug Power Stock Bounces After Bull Note

Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) stock is up 1.6% to trade at $4.52 this morning -- and earlier broke out of penny stock territory -- after Roth MKM upgraded the hydrogen energy concern to "buy" from "neutral," and doubled its price target to $9. Plug Power's Georgia facility is bolstering confidence, with major technical issues currently "handled, addressing our prior concerns about backlog and margin visibility." 

There's room for pessimism to unwind as well. While seven covering brokerages rate PLUG a "strong buy," 17 still recommend a tepid "hold" or worse. Further, the amount of shares sold short represent 29% of the security's total available float. 

Options traders are also pessimistic, leaving call traders a prime opportunity to enter the ring. The equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.08 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits higher than 90% of readings from the last year, showing bears are chiming in at a much faster-than-usual rate. 

Echoing this is the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.51, which stands in the 98th percentile of readings from the past 12 months. All of this to say, puts have been extremely popular of late.

The stock now sports a 2.7% lead for 2024. Now could be a great opportunity for traders to get in on the action, too, as PLUG is down 73% in the last 12 months, and distancing itself from multi-year lows.