Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Trading Up 6.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) shot up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.15 and last traded at $10.33. 132,719 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 1,614,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CSIQ. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $19.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.31.

Canadian Solar Stock Up 3.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $681.05 million, a P/E ratio of -85.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Canadian Solar had a net margin of 0.01% and a return on equity of 0.02%. The company’s revenue was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Solar Inc. will post -0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 4,739 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Canadian Solar during the second quarter valued at about $343,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Solar by 109.5% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,730 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 35,921 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Canadian Solar by 69.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 19,700 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Solar in the third quarter worth about $219,000. 52.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Solar Company Profile

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.