Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ)

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) in a report released on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price target on the solar energy provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.91% from the stock’s previous close.

CSIQ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Canadian Solar from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Glj Research lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Solar from $9.10 to $12.28 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Canadian Solar from $43.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.94.

Canadian Solar Trading Up 1.1 %

CSIQ stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 269,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,717,050. The firm has a market capitalization of $755.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.34. Canadian Solar has a 1 year low of $10.91 and a 1 year high of $26.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.04.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Canadian Solar had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 0.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Solar will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in Canadian Solar by 494.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 115,328 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after acquiring an additional 95,924 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Solar by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 486,800 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $8,159,000 after purchasing an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Solar by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 110,188 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Canadian Solar during the third quarter worth $1,109,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Canadian Solar by 20.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,900 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 52.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Solar Company Profile

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.