Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.26.

DQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC upgraded Daqo New Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Daqo New Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Nomura Securities upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DQ. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,728,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,575,000 after purchasing an additional 53,860 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Daqo New Energy by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,496,997 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,456,000 after buying an additional 149,610 shares during the last quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,181,124 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,244,000 after purchasing an additional 228,200 shares in the last quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 103.9% during the second quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 943,692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,778,000 after buying an additional 480,980 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Daqo New Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,080,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

Daqo New Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DQ stock opened at $17.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.30. Daqo New Energy has a 52-week low of $13.62 and a 52-week high of $31.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.47.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($1.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($1.25). The business had revenue of $219.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.50 million. Daqo New Energy had a negative net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 1.04%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Daqo New Energy will post -3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Daqo New Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, July 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 8.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.