Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.65, but opened at $21.11. Daqo New Energy shares last traded at $21.42, with a volume of 135,645 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DQ. 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 research report on Monday, August 26th. Nomura Securities raised shares of Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Daqo New Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Trading Down 7.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.01 and its 200 day moving average is $18.48.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $198.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.90 million. Daqo New Energy had a negative net margin of 9.16% and a negative return on equity of 1.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Daqo New Energy Corp. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Daqo New Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,813 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Daqo New Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,053,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 128,422 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 26,462 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 395.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 164,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,357,000 after acquiring an additional 131,564 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 842,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,170,000 after acquiring an additional 8,983 shares during the period. 47.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.