Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $7.32, but opened at $7.17. Canadian Solar shares last traded at $7.64, with a volume of 410,137 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CSIQ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Solar from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Canadian Solar from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup raised Canadian Solar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $8.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of Canadian Solar from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.77.

Canadian Solar Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $713.39 million, a P/E ratio of -89.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $9.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.05.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The solar energy provider reported ($1.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($1.26). Canadian Solar had a net margin of 0.01% and a return on equity of 0.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Solar Inc. will post -0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Canadian Solar by 6.9% in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian Solar by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,027,302 shares of the solar energy provider's stock valued at $22,544,000 after purchasing an additional 23,355 shares during the period. Shah Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Solar by 825.6% during the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 1,745,546 shares of the solar energy provider's stock worth $19,410,000 after buying an additional 1,556,964 shares during the last quarter. IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Solar during the 4th quarter worth about $15,440,000. Finally, Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. acquired a new position in Canadian Solar in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,738,000. 52.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.