Brokerages Set Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Target Price at $17.84

Shares of Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.84.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Canadian Solar from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian Solar from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Solar

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Solar by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 180,792 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 67,331 shares during the period. Shah Capital Management boosted its position in Canadian Solar by 825.6% in the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 1,745,546 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $19,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556,964 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 95,924 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Solar by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 185,175 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 26,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Solar in the 4th quarter valued at $7,738,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Solar Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSIQ opened at $7.64 on Thursday. Canadian Solar has a 12-month low of $6.57 and a 12-month high of $21.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $505.45 million, a PE ratio of -63.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 25th. The solar energy provider reported ($1.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($1.26). Canadian Solar had a return on equity of 0.02% and a net margin of 0.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian Solar will post -0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Canadian Solar

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.