Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $10.09 and last traded at $10.31, with a volume of 341685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CSIQ. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Canadian Solar in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.15 target price for the company. Mizuho started coverage on Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $19.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Solar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.31.

Canadian Solar Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.78 and its 200 day moving average is $13.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $677.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.27.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Canadian Solar had a return on equity of 0.02% and a net margin of 0.01%. The company’s revenue was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Solar Inc. will post -0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Solar

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSIQ. Shah Capital Management increased its holdings in Canadian Solar by 825.6% in the fourth quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 1,745,546 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $19,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556,964 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 486,800 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $8,159,000 after purchasing an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 131.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 428,733 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $7,186,000 after purchasing an additional 243,542 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 142,402 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 37,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 95,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

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.