Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $12.70, but opened at $13.29. Canadian Solar shares last traded at $12.57, with a volume of 611,308 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on CSIQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Canadian Solar from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Canadian Solar from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup lowered shares of Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Canadian Solar from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.03.

Canadian Solar Stock Down 3.9 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.14 million, a P/E ratio of 4.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.31.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Canadian Solar had a return on equity of 0.99% and a net margin of 0.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Canadian Solar Inc. will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Solar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Solar in the second quarter worth $31,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian Solar by 72.1% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,400 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Solar in the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Solar by 43.1% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,733 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 4,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Solar by 27.6% in the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,435 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian Solar

Canadian Solar Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solar energy and battery energy storage products and solutions in in Asia, the Americas, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, CSI Solar and Recurrent Energy. The CSI Solar segment designs, develops, and manufactures solar ingots, wafers, cells, modules, and other solar power and battery storage products.