Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, a decrease of 6.1% from the October 15th total of 3,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 5.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on DQ. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. HSBC raised Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on Daqo New Energy from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Stock Performance

DQ stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.94. 86,570 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,186,440. Daqo New Energy has a 52-week low of $13.62 and a 52-week high of $30.85. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.41 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.40.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.80) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $198.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Daqo New Energy will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Daqo New Energy declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, July 22nd that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 8.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Daqo New Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 27.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 4.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Daqo New Energy by 15.4% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Daqo New Energy by 22.2% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,104 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 10,734 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

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.