Short Interest in Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) Declines By 6.1%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Daqo New Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 12,187.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,966 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 27.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 202.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 6,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Daqo New Energy by 37.9% during the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 14,442 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 3,970 shares in the last quarter. 47.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Daqo New Energy Price Performance

Shares of DQ stock opened at $18.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.91 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.40. Daqo New Energy has a 1 year low of $13.62 and a 1 year high of $30.85.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $198.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Daqo New Energy will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Nomura Securities upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Daiwa America upgraded Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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 issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.26.

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.