Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.26, but opened at $18.64. Daqo New Energy shares last traded at $18.56, with a volume of 144,480 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Daqo New Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -10.02 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.67.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The semiconductor company reported ($2.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by ($2.02). Daqo New Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.90% and a negative net margin of 9.16%. The business had revenue of $195.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Daqo New Energy Corp. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Daqo New Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DQ. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. lifted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 5,286.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 2,714,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,775,000 after buying an additional 2,664,381 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Daqo New Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,775,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 886,655 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,237,000 after acquiring an additional 357,460 shares in the last quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,505,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,271,000 after acquiring an additional 324,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continental General Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 5,916,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $115,011,000 after acquiring an additional 322,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

Daqo New Energy Company Profile

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.