Caxton Associates LP Trims Stake in Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)

Caxton Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 93,102 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 47,685 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Daqo New Energy were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Daqo New Energy by 12,187.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,966 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 117.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,104 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 14,442 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Daqo New Energy in the 1st quarter worth $256,000. 47.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Daqo New Energy Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Daqo New Energy stock opened at $17.01 on Thursday. Daqo New Energy Corp. has a twelve month low of $13.62 and a twelve month high of $31.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Daqo New Energy announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 8.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Daqo New Energy from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. StockNews.com raised Daqo New Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Nomura Securities raised Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, HSBC raised Daqo New Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Daqo New Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.26.

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.