Short Interest in Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Expands By 11.3%

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,730,000 shares, a growth of 11.3% from the December 15th total of 9,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days. Approximately 22.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. USCF Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Solar by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Canadian Solar during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Solar during the 4th quarter worth about $133,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Solar by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,900 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Solar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. 52.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Canadian Solar in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Canadian Solar in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.31.

Canadian Solar Trading Down 0.6 %

CSIQ stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.05. 1,467,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,511,765. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.94 and a 200-day moving average of $13.57. Canadian Solar has a 52-week low of $10.60 and a 52-week high of $25.43.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Canadian Solar had a return on equity of 0.02% and a net margin of 0.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Solar will post -0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

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.