Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.38, but opened at $12.86. Canadian Solar shares last traded at $12.95, with a volume of 365,188 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CSIQ. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Canadian Solar from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.15 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Canadian Solar from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Canadian Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Canadian Solar from $43.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Solar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.04.

Canadian Solar Stock Up 2.5 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $839.56 million, a P/E ratio of -105.75, a PEG ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.13. The company 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 quarterly revenue was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Canadian Solar Inc. will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSIQ. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,115,665 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $75,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,800 shares during the period. SIR Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Canadian Solar in the second quarter worth about $3,994,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Solar in the second quarter worth about $3,667,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Solar by 131.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 428,733 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $7,186,000 after buying an additional 243,542 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Solar by 494.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 115,328 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after acquiring an additional 95,924 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

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.