Ballard Power Systems Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:BLDP)

Ballard Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 23,613 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 278% compared to the average volume of 6,249 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLDP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ballard Power Systems in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ballard Power Systems from $1.50 to $2.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital upgraded Ballard Power Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ballard Power Systems from $3.50 to $4.30 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Ballard Power Systems from $2.60 to $4.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLDP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 29.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 692,662 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 156,014 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 16.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,140 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 9,454 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 20.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,916,541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,408,000 after purchasing an additional 829,012 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 56.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,485,948 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 534,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ballard Power Systems by 604.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 476,247 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 408,641 shares in the last quarter. 28.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ballard Power Systems Price Performance

Shares of BLDP opened at $4.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.63 and a beta of 2.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 10.70 and a quick ratio of 9.90. Ballard Power Systems has a 12 month low of $1.39 and a 12 month high of $6.57.

Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) (TSE:BLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.88 million. Ballard Power Systems had a negative return on equity of 13.48% and a negative net margin of 78.60%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ballard Power Systems will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current 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.