Raymond James says there’s a “textbook buy-on-the-dip opportunity” for shares of Clean Energy Fuels — but it could be a volatile ride for investors. The firm upgraded Clean Energy to outperform from market perform. It set a price target of $6 per share, which implies 42.8% upside from Wednesday’s close price. Analyst Pavel Molchanov thinks the renewable energy company could see gains as natural gas fuels, including those derived from biogas, play a role in the decarbonization of fleets. CLNE YTD mountain CLNE in 2023 “Clean Energy’s business model is diversifying from its historical status as purely a fuel distributor towards starting in-house production of RNG in 2023,” Molchanov wrote in a Wednesday note. However, he added that “the growth story must be balanced against the fact that this commodity business is highly sensitive to both federal and state policy incentives, including a high degree of reliance on California’s [Low Carbon Fuel Standard] credits.” “This stock’s always-volatile attributes — it is emphatically not a buy-and-hold name — makes it essential to be tactical, and that means short-term trading calls,” Molchanov warned. Shares of Clean Energy were up 3.3% before the bell Wednesday. The stock is down 19.2% year to date. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
