Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Trading Down 7.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) shares were down 7.8% during trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $1.70 to $0.90. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Plug Power traded as low as $0.75 and last traded at $0.76. Approximately 50,051,605 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 59,822,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.83.

PLUG has been the topic of several other reports. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Plug Power from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Plug Power from $1.80 to $1.25 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Plug Power from $1.25 to $0.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Plug Power from $1.10 to $0.80 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Plug Power in a report on Monday, March 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plug Power

In other Plug Power news, CFO Paul B. Middleton bought 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $0.72 per share, with a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,908,064 shares in the company, valued at $1,373,806.08. The trade was a 22.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Plug Power

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLUG. Mariner LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Plug Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,465,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Plug Power by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,685,413 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,720,000 after buying an additional 70,187 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Plug Power in the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Plug Power by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,907,687 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $16,843,000 after buying an additional 790,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.48% of the company's stock.

Plug Power Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $824.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.36 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.76.

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

Plug Power Company Profile

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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