Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) Short Interest Up 15.3% in January

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,090,000 shares, an increase of 15.3% from the January 15th total of 10,490,000 shares. Approximately 25.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSIQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Canadian Solar in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.15 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Canadian Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho assumed coverage on Canadian Solar in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian Solar from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Canadian Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $19.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.31.

Canadian Solar Price Performance

Canadian Solar stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.63. 1,923,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,458,836. The firm has a market cap of $703.28 million, a PE ratio of -88.58, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.26. Canadian Solar has a 52 week low of $9.56 and a 52 week high of $23.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.25 and its 200-day moving average is $12.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Solar will post -0.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. USCF Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian Solar by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Solar by 184.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,166 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 3,347 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Solar in the 4th quarter worth about $113,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Solar in the 4th quarter worth about $133,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Solar by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,900 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.36% of the company’s stock.

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.