Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $351.96, but opened at $374.91. Talen Energy shares last traded at $364.0650, with a volume of 77,398 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Talen Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Talen Energy from $440.00 to $439.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Talen Energy in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $418.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research upped their target price on Talen Energy from $427.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Talen Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.21.

Talen Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $382.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $360.87.

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $812.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.90 million. Talen Energy had a net margin of 9.83% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Talen Energy Corporation will post 15.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Talen Energy by 13.2% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Talen Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,980,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Talen Energy by 75.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,495,000 after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Talen Energy by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Talen Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. 0.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Talen Energy

Talen Energy Inc is an independent power producer that develops and operates a diversified portfolio of thermal and renewable generation facilities across the United States. The company supplies wholesale electricity and related services to utilities, large industrial customers, and power marketers, participating actively in regional markets such as PJM Interconnection and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Talen’s asset base comprises a mix of natural gas-fired, coal-fired and nuclear generation, supplemented by battery storage and other flexible resources designed to support the evolving needs of the grid.

Established in December 2015 through the combination of the competitive generation businesses previously held by two major utility groups, Talen Energy was structured as a standalone, publicly traded entity on the NASDAQ stock exchange (TLN).