Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on CSIQ. Roth Capital set a $15.00 price target on Canadian Solar in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Canadian Solar from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Canadian Solar from $25.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Canadian Solar from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Solar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $16.42.

Canadian Solar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSIQ traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.81. 2,654,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,729,968. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.61. The company has a market cap of $666.10 million, a PE ratio of -2.55 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.02. Canadian Solar has a 1-year low of $9.76 and a 1-year high of $34.59.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The solar energy provider reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($1.22). Canadian Solar had a negative net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.53) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 28.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Canadian Solar will post -2.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Solar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSIQ. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in Canadian Solar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,262,141,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Canadian Solar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,018,259,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Canadian Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $722,850,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Canadian Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $676,361,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Canadian Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $85,219,000. 52.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Canadian Solar

Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is a global renewable-energy company that designs, manufactures and sells solar photovoltaic modules and system solutions. Its product portfolio includes solar modules, inverters, battery-storage systems and other equipment used in residential, commercial, industrial and utility-scale renewable-energy installations.

The company also develops, builds and operates solar-power and energy-storage projects through its Recurrent Energy business. These activities include project development, engineering, procurement and construction, as well as the ownership and sale of electricity-generating assets.