Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $10.00. The stock had previously closed at $13.29, but opened at $12.77. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Canadian Solar shares last traded at $12.93, with a volume of 194,956 shares changing hands.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CSIQ. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Canadian Solar in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Canadian Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Solar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Solar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSIQ. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Solar by 8.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,716 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Canadian Solar by 20.3% in the third 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. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Solar by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 110,188 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Solar during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Solar by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 40,390 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Solar Trading Down 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $853.45 million, a P/E ratio of -107.50, a PEG ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.33 and a 200 day moving average of $13.74.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its 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. Canadian Solar had a net margin of 0.01% and a return on equity of 0.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Canadian Solar’s quarterly revenue was down 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Solar Inc. will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.