Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Canaccord Genuity raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $48.00. Canaccord Genuity currently has a buy rating on the stock. Plug Power traded as high as $71.90 and last traded at $67.00, with a volume of 738304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.02.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Plug Power from $14.50 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 21st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. BidaskClub lowered Plug Power from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 30th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Plug Power from $14.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Plug Power from $13.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Plug Power from $14.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

In other Plug Power news, COO Keith Schmid sold 83,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.84, for a total value of $1,903,325.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 439,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,038,933.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director George C. Mcnamee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.07, for a total value of $520,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 899,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,831,237.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,480,624 shares of company stock worth $62,463,293. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLUG. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Plug Power by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 227,250 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 8,331 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Plug Power by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 26,070 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 5,400 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Plug Power in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $771,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Plug Power by 7.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,280,446 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $133,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Plug Power by 166.1% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 468,838 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 292,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.56% of the company’s stock.

The firm has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -224.19 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The electronics maker reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $107.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.76 million. Plug Power had a negative net margin of 33.33% and a negative return on equity of 70.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Plug Power Inc. will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plug Power Company Profile (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power Inc provides hydrogen fuel cell turnkey solutions for the electric mobility and stationary power markets in North America and Europe. It focuses on proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and fuel processing technologies, fuel cell/battery hybrid technologies, and related hydrogen storage and dispensing infrastructure.

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