StockNews.com Upgrades Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) to Hold

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Canadian Solar from $28.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Canadian Solar from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on Canadian Solar in a research note on Monday, March 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Canadian Solar from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

Canadian Solar Price Performance

NASDAQ CSIQ opened at $15.75 on Thursday. Canadian Solar has a 52 week low of $15.73 and a 52 week high of $45.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.68.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Canadian Solar had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Solar will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Solar

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 137.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,761,422 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $92,569,000 after buying an additional 2,180,240 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Canadian Solar by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,952,015 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $103,661,000 after purchasing an additional 843,100 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Canadian Solar by 2,094.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 471,110 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $18,755,000 after purchasing an additional 449,646 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Canadian Solar by 275.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 528,597 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $21,043,000 after purchasing an additional 387,866 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Canadian Solar by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,575,683 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $41,330,000 after purchasing an additional 213,959 shares during the period. 52.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Solar Company Profile

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