Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,540,000 shares, a drop of 17.0% from the February 13th total of 12,700,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Approximately 22.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Canadian Solar Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ CSIQ traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $9.78. 819,743 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,813,237. Canadian Solar has a 52-week low of $9.19 and a 52-week high of $21.05. The firm has a market cap of $647.04 million, a PE ratio of -81.50, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Canadian Solar by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,523,565 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $61,422,000 after acquiring an additional 357,900 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 40,499 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Canadian Solar in the fourth quarter worth about $308,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Canadian Solar in the fourth quarter worth about $331,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Canadian Solar by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 323,238 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 78,306 shares during the last quarter. 52.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CSIQ. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Canadian Solar in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.15 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.04.

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.