Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on XPeng (NYSE:XPEV)

XPeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 50,052 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 43% compared to the typical daily volume of 34,992 put options.

XPeng Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of XPEV opened at $20.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.37. XPeng has a 52-week low of $6.55 and a 52-week high of $27.16. The firm has a market cap of $19.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.21 and a beta of 2.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.93 and its 200-day moving average is $14.36.

XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.36) by $1.17. XPeng had a negative net margin of 15.35% and a negative return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.11 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that XPeng will post -0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on XPEV. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of XPeng from $7.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Nomura raised shares of XPeng from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Nomura Securities raised XPeng to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $18.00 price target on shares of XPeng and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of XPeng from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, XPeng presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Institutional Trading of XPeng

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in XPeng in the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in XPeng in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in XPeng by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 53,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP grew its holdings in XPeng by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 407,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,812,000 after acquiring an additional 74,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in XPeng in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,596,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.09% of the company’s stock.

XPeng Company Profile

XPeng Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and markets smart electric vehicles (EVs) in the People's Republic of China. It offers SUVs under the G3, G3i, and G9 names; four-door sports sedans under the P7 and P7i names; and family sedans under the P5 name. The company also provides sales contracts, super charging, maintenance, technical support, auto financing, insurance, technology support, ride-hailing, automotive loan referral, and other services, as well as vehicle leasing and insurance agency services.