Critical Contrast: Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) & China Sunergy (OTCMKTS:CSUNY)

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) and China Sunergy (OTCMKTS:CSUNY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

47.2% of Daqo New Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 24.3% of Daqo New Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Daqo New Energy has a beta of 0.22, meaning that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Sunergy has a beta of 3.78, meaning that its stock price is 278% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Daqo New Energy and China Sunergy’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daqo New Energy	$2.01 billion	0.61	$421.16 million	$2.13	8.81
China Sunergy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Daqo New Energy has higher revenue and earnings than China Sunergy.

Profitability

This table compares Daqo New Energy and China Sunergy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daqo New Energy	7.84%	2.46%	2.15%
China Sunergy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Daqo New Energy and China Sunergy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daqo New Energy	1	2	1	0	2.00
China Sunergy	0	0	0	0	N/A

Daqo New Energy currently has a consensus price target of $32.93, suggesting a potential upside of 75.51%. Given Daqo New Energy’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Daqo New Energy is more favorable than China Sunergy.

Summary

Daqo New Energy beats China Sunergy on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. in August 2009. Daqo New Energy Corp. was founded in 2006 and is based in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.

About China Sunergy

China Sunergy Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets solar cells and modules in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company offers monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon solar cells; and standard P-type solar cells, HP solar cells, and emitter cells, as well as solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. It also invests in, develops, and operates solar power projects. The company sells its products to system integrators, solar power project developers, and solar power product distributors under the CSUN brand name, as well as on an original equipment manufacturing basis. China Sunergy Co., Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Nanjing, the People's Republic of China.