Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) Lowered to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Talen Energy has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a negative outlook for the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, several research firms have set high price targets for Talen Energy, with Oppenheimer and Jefferies increasing their targets to $315 and $380 respectively, suggesting a mixed sentiment among analysts.
• Insider trading activity includes major shareholder Rubric Capital Management selling a significant amount of shares, which may signal concerns about the company's performance or outlook.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on TLN. Oppenheimer set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Talen Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Talen Energy from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Talen Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $314.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Talen Energy from $326.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Talen Energy from $269.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.58.

Talen Energy Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ TLN opened at $378.01 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $289.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Talen Energy has a 12 month low of $98.50 and a 12 month high of $384.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.90.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $390.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $556.93 million. Talen Energy had a net margin of 28.51% and a return on equity of 11.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Talen Energy will post 15.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Talen Energy

In other news, major shareholder Rubric Capital Management Lp sold 178,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 5,734,970 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,780,518.80. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 388,530 shares of company stock worth $114,090,933. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Talen Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TLN. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Talen Energy by 19.5% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 150,886 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,873,000 after purchasing an additional 24,659 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Talen Energy during the second quarter worth $629,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Talen Energy by 368.7% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 33,765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,818,000 after buying an additional 26,561 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Talen Energy by 33.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,312 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,140,000 after purchasing an additional 9,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Talen Energy by 10.8% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,414 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,610,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.