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

Key Points

• On Wednesday, investors purchased 114,907 call options on Plug Power, marking a 44% increase compared to the average daily volume.
• Shares of Plug Power traded up 14.0%, reaching $2.66, with a trading volume of approximately 85.3 million shares.
• Plug Power's recent quarterly earnings report showed a loss of ($0.16) EPS, missing analysts' expectations, despite revenue exceeding estimates at $173.97 million.

Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 114,907 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average daily volume of 79,527 call options.

Plug Power Trading Up 14.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PLUG traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.66. The stock had a trading volume of 85,336,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,161,773. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 2.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Plug Power has a twelve month low of $0.69 and a twelve month high of $3.32.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The electronics maker reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $173.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.97 million. Plug Power had a negative net margin of 292.84% and a negative return on equity of 90.22%. On average, research analysts predict that Plug Power will post -1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLUG. Heights Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Plug Power during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,174,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Plug Power by 59.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,980,865 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $25,301,000 after buying an additional 6,364,483 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Plug Power by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,368,845 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $123,348,000 after buying an additional 3,930,342 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Plug Power by 365,934.4% during the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,795,777 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,656,000 after buying an additional 3,794,740 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Plug Power by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,071,904 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $35,872,000 after buying an additional 3,125,542 shares during the period. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Plug Power from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.10 to $1.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.00 to $1.80 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Plug Power to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $0.90 to $1.60 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $1.88.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc develops hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers GenDrive, a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system that provides power to material handling electric vehicles; GenSure, a stationary fuel cell solution that offers modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; ProGen, a fuel cell stack and engine technology used in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems, and as engines in electric delivery vans; GenFuel, a liquid hydrogen fueling delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system; GenCare, an ongoing Internet of Things-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products, and ProGen fuel cell engines; and GenKey, an integrated turn-key solution for transitioning to fuel cell power.

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