Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Trading Up 5.2% - Here's Why

Shares of Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) shot up 5.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $0.85 and last traded at $0.83. 69,941,048 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 61,310,042 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PLUG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Plug Power to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Plug Power from $1.25 to $0.50 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Plug Power from $1.10 to $0.80 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $3.00 price objective on shares of Plug Power in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Plug Power from $1.60 to $1.40 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Plug Power has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1.83.

Plug Power Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.69. The stock has a market cap of $947.54 million, a P/E ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 2.19.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The electronics maker reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.01). Plug Power had a negative net margin of 214.05% and a negative return on equity of 46.99%. The business had revenue of $133.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.92 million. Research analysts forecast that Plug Power Inc. will post -1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plug Power

In other Plug Power news, CFO Paul B. Middleton bought 350,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $0.72 per share, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,908,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,373,806.08. The trade was a 22.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 177,839 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 40,710 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Plug Power during the fourth quarter worth about $146,465,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,685,413 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 70,187 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Plug Power during the fourth quarter worth about $320,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Plug Power by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 978,101 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 458,706 shares during the period. 43.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.