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

Key Points

• Unusual options activity was seen in Plug Power, with traders buying 118,041 call options on Monday — about 111% above the average daily call volume.
• The stock jumped 13.6% to $3.55 on heavy trading volume, while Plug Power’s market cap was about $4.94 billion.
• Plug Power recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, but analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus Hold rating and average target price of $3.03.

Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 118,041 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 111% compared to the average daily volume of 55,960 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 129,599,295 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $255,311,000 after acquiring an additional 19,967,339 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,258,283 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $63,549,000 after acquiring an additional 7,416,943 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,268,670 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $61,611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,456,323 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 241.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,134,913 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $40,971,000 after acquiring an additional 12,820,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,695,077 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $41,230,000 after acquiring an additional 714,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.48% of the company's stock.

Plug Power Stock Up 13.6%

NASDAQ PLUG traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $3.55. 85,035,696 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 86,506,938. Plug Power has a 1-year low of $0.69 and a 1-year high of $4.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 2.06.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The electronics maker reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.04. Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 45.97% and a negative net margin of 229.83%.The firm had revenue of $225.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.48) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Plug Power will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PLUG. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Plug Power from $2.00 to $1.80 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $1.00 target price on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.03.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc is a U.S.-based company specializing in the design and manufacture of hydrogen fuel cell systems that serve as clean energy replacements for conventional batteries in electric vehicles and material handling equipment. Its core solutions include ProGen fuel cell engines, GenDrive power systems for forklifts and warehouse vehicles, and GenFuel hydrogen refueling infrastructure. These offerings are sold as standalone components or integrated turnkey solutions under the GenKey brand, providing customers with on-site refueling, equipment installation and maintenance services.

In addition to its fuel cell and refueling products, Plug Power develops backup power and off-grid energy solutions through its GenSure line, which targets telecommunications, data centers and utility applications.

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