ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) Downgraded to Underperform Rating by Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird cut shares of ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $9.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $14.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of ESS Tech from $18.75 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on ESS Tech from $30.00 to $22.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on ESS Tech from $17.25 to $13.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut ESS Tech from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ESS Tech has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.58.

ESS Tech Price Performance

Shares of GWH stock traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5.30. The company had a trading volume of 295,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 69,187. ESS Tech has a 1-year low of $5.20 and a 1-year high of $20.10. The firm has a market cap of $62.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.15 and a 200 day moving average of $9.59.

ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($27.00) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($24.75) by ($2.25). ESS Tech had a negative return on equity of 90.93% and a negative net margin of 1,263.79%. The firm had revenue of $0.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ESS Tech will post -6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sandeep Nijhawan sold 7,000 shares of ESS Tech stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.72, for a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,537 shares in the company, valued at $88,871.64. The trade was a 31.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESS Tech

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESS Tech by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,263,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 212,070 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in ESS Tech during the second quarter valued at approximately $148,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ESS Tech in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESS Tech during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESS Tech during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ESS Tech

ESS Tech, Inc, an energy storage company, designs and produces iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications worldwide. It offers energy storage products, which include Energy Warehouse, a behind-the-meter solution; and Energy Center, a front-of-the-meter solution. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon.