Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Shares Gap Down to $17.39

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.39, but opened at $16.21. Daqo New Energy shares last traded at $16.85, with a volume of 41,904 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DQ shares. Nomura Securities upgraded Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Daqo New Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Daqo New Energy from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.30.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($1.81) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($1.25). The firm had revenue of $219.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Daqo New Energy Corp. will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Daqo New Energy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, July 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 8.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Daqo New Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DQ. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Daqo New Energy during the second quarter worth $11,080,000. Sylebra Capital LLC grew its stake in Daqo New Energy by 103.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 943,692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,778,000 after acquiring an additional 480,980 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $36,456,000 after acquiring an additional 149,610 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 202.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 6,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 112.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 322,635 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,710,000 after purchasing an additional 170,660 shares during the period. 47.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Daqo New Energy Company Profile

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.