Brokerages Set Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) Target Price at $22.26

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.26.

DQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets restated a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Daqo New Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Daqo New Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DQ. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 117.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Daqo New Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $471,000. Ariose Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 19.1% during the first quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 952,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,825,000 after acquiring an additional 152,800 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 15.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 125,425 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 16,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 142.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 696,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,617,000 after acquiring an additional 409,057 shares during the last quarter. 47.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Daqo New Energy Stock Up 6.1 %

Shares of Daqo New Energy stock opened at $18.99 on Tuesday. Daqo New Energy has a 52-week low of $13.62 and a 52-week high of $30.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Daqo New Energy announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, July 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 8.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.