Ballard Power Systems Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:BLDP)

Ballard Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 14,143 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,594% compared to the typical volume of 835 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLDP. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 228.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 6,952 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 422.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 15,024 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 12,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLDP shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Ballard Power Systems from $2.50 to $4.25 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities raised shares of Ballard Power Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ballard Power Systems from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised shares of Ballard Power Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.51.

Ballard Power Systems Stock Down 7.6%

NASDAQ BLDP traded down $0.36 on Friday, reaching $4.35. 5,715,986 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,831,294. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 9.14 and a current ratio of 10.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.74. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.06 and a beta of 1.94. Ballard Power Systems has a 12 month low of $1.24 and a 12 month high of $4.86.

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.88 million. Ballard Power Systems had a negative return on equity of 13.48% and a negative net margin of 78.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ballard Power Systems will post -0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ballard Power Systems Company Profile

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) is a Canadian technology company specializing in the development and manufacture of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ballard designs and sells fuel cell stacks and modules that enable zero-emission power generation for a variety of applications, including heavy-duty motive systems, backup power, material handling equipment, and portable power solutions.

Since its founding in 1979, Ballard has built a strong intellectual property portfolio and a track record of innovation in PEM fuel cell technology.