DAQO New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Shares Up 7.7% on Analyst Upgrade

DAQO New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)’s stock price was up 7.7% on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $27.60 and last traded at $27.79. Approximately 295,598 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,023,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.81.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on DQ. Citigroup increased their target price on DAQO New Energy from $27.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded DAQO New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Glj Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.51 target price on shares of DAQO New Energy in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, HSBC upgraded DAQO New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.10.

Institutional Trading of DAQO New Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Continental General Insurance Co. lifted its position in shares of DAQO New Energy by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 5,966,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,048,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of DAQO New Energy by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,866,454 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,314,000 after buying an additional 26,100 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of DAQO New Energy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,745,544 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,612,000 after buying an additional 26,359 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of DAQO New Energy by 117.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,159,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,005,000 after buying an additional 625,900 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of DAQO New Energy by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 886,655 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,237,000 after buying an additional 357,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

DAQO New Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.74 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.86 and a 200 day moving average of $18.06.

DAQO New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($1.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $75.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.54 million. DAQO New Energy had a negative return on equity of 6.54% and a negative net margin of 65.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that DAQO New Energy Corp. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DAQO New Energy declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally 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.