Hsbc Global Res Upgrades Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) to “Strong-Buy”

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

DQ has been the topic of several other research reports. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Daqo New Energy from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nomura Securities raised shares of Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. HSBC raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DQ opened at $21.88 on Wednesday. Daqo New Energy has a one year low of $13.62 and a one year high of $30.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.32.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($1.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($1.25). The firm had revenue of $219.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.50 million. Daqo New Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.04% and a negative net margin of 4.11%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Daqo New Energy will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Daqo New Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, July 22nd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 8.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Daqo New Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DQ. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Daqo New Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,080,000. Sylebra Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 103.9% in the second quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 943,692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,778,000 after purchasing an additional 480,980 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 142.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 696,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,617,000 after purchasing an additional 409,057 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Daqo New Energy in the first quarter worth $9,647,000. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 23.9% in the second quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,181,124 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,244,000 after purchasing an additional 228,200 shares in the last quarter. 47.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Daqo New Energy

Daqo New Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells polysilicon to photovoltaic product manufacturers in the People's Republic of China. Its products are used in ingots, wafers, cells, and modules for solar power solutions. The company was formerly known as Mega Stand International Limited and changed its name to Daqo New Energy Corp.