Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Shares Gap Down to $64.42

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ – Get Rating) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $64.42, but opened at $62.00. Daqo New Energy shares last traded at $62.00, with a volume of 8,911 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 4th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. TheStreet raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, May 6th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Daqo New Energy from $47.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.82.

Daqo New Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.19 and its 200-day moving average is $48.47.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 21st. The semiconductor company reported $6.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.29 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Daqo New Energy had a net margin of 44.72% and a return on equity of 50.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Daqo New Energy Corp. will post 25.69 EPS for the current year.

Daqo New Energy announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Daqo New Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Daqo New Energy during the fourth quarter worth $376,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 151,325 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,103,000 after acquiring an additional 33,352 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Daqo New Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $1,670,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Daqo New Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $849,000. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 14.0% during the first quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 17,080 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095 shares during the last quarter. 70.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Daqo New Energy

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Daqo New Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells polysilicon to photovoltaic product manufactures 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.