Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Short Interest Update

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,830,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the August 15th total of 7,360,000 shares. Currently, 16.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Canadian Solar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSIQ traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $14.65. 1,487,237 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,559,892. The company has a market capitalization of $969.23 million, a P/E ratio of 5.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Canadian Solar has a 52-week low of $11.41 and a 52-week high of $27.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.34.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Canadian Solar had a return on equity of 0.99% and a net margin of 0.56%. Canadian Solar’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Solar will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Solar

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Solar during the 1st quarter valued at about $989,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Canadian Solar by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,575,683 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $41,330,000 after purchasing an additional 213,959 shares during the period. D. Scott Neal Inc. purchased a new position in Canadian Solar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,898,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Canadian Solar by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 198,646 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $3,925,000 after purchasing an additional 46,888 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Solar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. 52.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSIQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on Canadian Solar from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Canadian Solar from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Glj Research lifted their price target on Canadian Solar from $9.10 to $12.28 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Canadian Solar from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

About Canadian Solar

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.