Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE) Trading Up 5.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE)** stock rose 5.2% during Tuesday trading, peaking at $2.55, despite a significant decline in trading volume.
• Analysts have various ratings for CLNE: UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating with a price target of $2.75, while Jefferies Financial Group downgraded it to "hold" with a target price of $2.20.
• The company reported quarterly earnings that surpassed expectations, with revenue of $102.61 million, up 4.8% year-over-year, despite a negative net margin of 48.40%.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE - Get Free Report) rose 5.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $2.52 and last traded at $2.55. Approximately 272,012 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 2,540,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLNE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $2.75 price target (up previously from $2.00) on shares of Clean Energy Fuels in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Clean Energy Fuels from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $2.20 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clean Energy Fuels currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $3.59.

Clean Energy Fuels Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The stock's fifty day moving average is $2.30 and its 200-day moving average is $1.93. The stock has a market cap of $566.86 million, a PE ratio of -2.87 and a beta of 2.70.

Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.06. Clean Energy Fuels had a negative net margin of 48.40% and a negative return on equity of 27.98%. The firm had revenue of $102.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. Clean Energy Fuels's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will post -0.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Clean Energy Fuels by 100.7% in the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 32,742 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Clean Energy Fuels by 317.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 27,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 20,654 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc acquired a new position in Clean Energy Fuels in the second quarter valued at about $297,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in Clean Energy Fuels in the second quarter valued at about $878,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Clean Energy Fuels during the second quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.94% of the company's stock.

Clean Energy Fuels Company Profile

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides natural gas as alternative fuels for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions in the United States and Canada. It supplies renewable natural gas (RNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for medium and heavy-duty vehicles; and offers operation and maintenance services for public and private vehicle fleet customer stations.

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