Short Interest in Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Expands By 11.3%

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,730,000 shares, an increase of 11.3% from the December 15th total of 9,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 22.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CSIQ. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho started coverage on Canadian Solar in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Solar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.31.

Canadian Solar Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CSIQ stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,467,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,511,765. Canadian Solar has a 52-week low of $10.60 and a 52-week high of $25.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $11.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Canadian Solar had a return on equity of 0.02% and a net margin of 0.01%. The company’s revenue was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Solar will post -0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Solar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CSIQ. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Canadian Solar by 34.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,459 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 5,003 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Canadian Solar by 8.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,716 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Solar by 36.0% during the second quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 68,000 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Canadian Solar by 26.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 60,143 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 12,513 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Canadian Solar by 25.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,115,665 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $75,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

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.