Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $1.34 and last traded at $1.40, with a volume of 47,160,611 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $1.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Plug Power in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Plug Power in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Plug Power in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Plug Power from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Plug Power from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Plug Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.40.

Plug Power Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11 and a beta of 2.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.55.

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The electronics maker reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.01. Plug Power had a negative return on equity of 56.01% and a negative net margin of 220.59%. The company had revenue of $178.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.11 million. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Plug Power, Inc. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Benjamin Haycraft sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total transaction of $428,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 101,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,672.86. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 241,935 shares of company stock valued at $509,397. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Plug Power by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 184,032,469 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $498,728,000 after purchasing an additional 31,939,194 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Plug Power in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,779,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Plug Power by 553.9% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 710,470 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after buying an additional 601,816 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Plug Power by 45.6% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,560,305 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after buying an additional 488,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Plug Power by 97.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,738,500 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $62,689,000 after buying an additional 13,685,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.48% of the company’s stock.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc is a clean-energy technology company that develops hydrogen and fuel-cell solutions for commercial and industrial customers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Latham, New York, the company focuses on replacing conventional batteries and fossil-fuel-powered equipment with hydrogen-based power systems.

Its product portfolio includes fuel-cell systems for material-handling equipment, backup and stationary power, and commercial vehicles; hydrogen engines and fuel-cell stacks; electrolyzers that produce hydrogen from water; and hydrogen generation, storage, and delivery infrastructure.