Daqo New Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:DQ)

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 2,735 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,025 call options.

Institutional Trading of Daqo New Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 12,187.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,966 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 117.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 27.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in Daqo New Energy by 202.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. 47.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Daqo New Energy Stock Up 16.1 %

Shares of Daqo New Energy stock traded up $4.10 on Monday, reaching $29.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,473,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,129,840. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.32. Daqo New Energy has a 52-week low of $13.62 and a 52-week high of $30.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.42.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($1.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($1.25). The business had revenue of $219.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.50 million. Daqo New Energy had a negative net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 1.04%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Daqo New Energy will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Daqo New Energy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, July 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 8.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. HSBC raised Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Daiwa America upgraded Daqo New Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Daqo New Energy from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Daqo New Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Company Profile

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.