Brokerages Set Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Price Target at $18.31

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.31.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup downgraded Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Canadian Solar in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Solar

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSIQ. USCF Advisers LLC raised its position in Canadian Solar by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Canadian Solar during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Solar during the fourth quarter valued at $133,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Canadian Solar by 20.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,900 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Solar in the 3rd quarter worth about $219,000. 52.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Solar Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Solar stock opened at $10.24 on Friday. Canadian Solar has a 52 week low of $10.09 and a 52 week high of $24.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $677.48 million, a P/E ratio of -85.33, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.27.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.13. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Solar will post -0.23 EPS for the current 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.