Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) Short Interest Update

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a decrease of 20.4% from the February 13th total of 3,830,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 871,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Daqo New Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DQ traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.53. 1,116,185 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,030,678. Daqo New Energy has a 12-month low of $13.62 and a 12-month high of $30.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 0.41.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The semiconductor company reported ($2.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by ($2.02). The company had revenue of $195.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $153.54 million. Daqo New Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.90% and a negative net margin of 9.16%. As a group, analysts forecast that Daqo New Energy will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Daqo New Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in shares of Daqo New Energy in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 15.4% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Daqo New Energy by 66.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 14,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 5,570 shares during the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP increased its stake in Daqo New Energy by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 16,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 3,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Daqo New Energy by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,067 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares during the last quarter. 47.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.