Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to "Hold"

Key Points

• Talen Energy has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating by Zacks Research.
• Analysts have differing views; while Barclays raised their price target to $440.00 and maintained an "overweight" rating, Melius Research has increased their target to $576.00 with a "buy" rating.
• The company's stock price was recently $423.56, with a consensus price target of $354.29 among analysts, reflecting a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on TLN. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Talen Energy from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. UBS Group set a $431.00 target price on shares of Talen Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Melius Research raised their target price on shares of Talen Energy from $427.00 to $576.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Talen Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $427.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $315.00 target price on shares of Talen Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Talen Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $358.53.

Talen Energy Trading Up 1.5%

Talen Energy stock traded up $6.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $429.72. The company had a trading volume of 856,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,996. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.73, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $369.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.20. Talen Energy has a 12-month low of $148.02 and a 12-month high of $430.71.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.13) by $2.63. Talen Energy had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 8.75%.The firm had revenue of $630.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $481.48 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Talen Energy will post 15.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Talen Energy

In other news, major shareholder Rubric Capital Management Lp sold 178,000 shares of Talen Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.04, for a total value of $52,695,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,734,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,780,518.80. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 388,530 shares of company stock worth $114,090,933 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Talen Energy by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,492,145 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $297,937,000 after buying an additional 537,398 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Talen Energy by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 794,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $231,150,000 after buying an additional 164,734 shares during the period. Third Point LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Talen Energy by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 785,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $228,254,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Talen Energy by 151.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 711,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $206,805,000 after buying an additional 427,910 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Talen Energy by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 599,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $174,174,000 after purchasing an additional 95,147 shares during the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Talen Energy

Talen Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based energy and power generation company. The Company owns or controls approximately 16,000 megawatts of capacity in wholesale power markets, principally in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions of the United States. The Company generates and sells electricity, capacity and related products from power plants that use fuel sources, such as nuclear, natural gas and coal.