Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) Stock Price Down 5.8% - Time to Sell?

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ - Get Free Report) traded down 5.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $18.20 and last traded at $18.51. Approximately 434,447 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 1,165,819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Daqo New Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Daqo New Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nomura Securities upgraded Daqo New Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Daqo New Energy to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised Daqo New Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Trading Down 7.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.49.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.80) by ($0.12). Daqo New Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.90% and a negative net margin of 9.16%. The company had revenue of $198.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Daqo New Energy Corp. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Daqo New Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DQ. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 6.4% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,496,997 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $36,456,000 after buying an additional 149,610 shares in the last quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in Daqo New Energy by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,181,124 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $17,244,000 after purchasing an additional 228,200 shares in the last quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC raised its position in Daqo New Energy by 103.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 943,692 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $13,778,000 after purchasing an additional 480,980 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 842,921 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $17,170,000 after purchasing an additional 8,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Daqo New Energy during the second quarter worth $11,080,000. 47.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.