Citigroup initiated coverage of PLUG with a "buy" rating
Citigroup initiated coverage on Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) this morning with a "buy" rating and $13 price target. The analyst noted the company could become one of the biggest global green hydrogen suppliers. Nevertheless, the equity is still down 4.5% to trade at $10.16 at last check.
Plug Power stock has struggled with a ceiling at the $12 region since March, but its 50-day moving average has acted as support for the past month. Year-to-date, PLUG is down 14%.
The brokerage bunch is firmly optimistic toward the equity, with 13 of the 21 in coverage sporting a "buy" or better rating, while the 12-month consensus target price of $18.50 is a 73.9% premium to current levels. Meanwhile, short interest accounts for 21.4% of the stock's available float, and would take nearly one week to cover, at its average pace of daily trading.
Options traders lean bullish as well. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), PLUG's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.41 ranks higher than all but 1% of annual readings, suggesting calls have been getting picked up at a quicker-than-usual clip.
What's more, the security has exceeded option traders' volatility expectations during the past year. This is per PLUG's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS), which sits at 92 out of 100.