Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 32,971 Shares of Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) by 1.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,638,793 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 32,971 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Daqo New Energy were worth $52,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Daqo New Energy by 12,187.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,966 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 27.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 202.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 6,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,104 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Daqo New Energy by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DQ shares. Nomura Securities raised shares of Daqo New Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Daqo New Energy from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Daqo New Energy from $38.40 to $34.05 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Daqo New Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.26.

Daqo New Energy Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of DQ stock opened at $17.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.71 and a beta of 0.28. Daqo New Energy Corp. has a 12-month low of $13.62 and a 12-month high of $30.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.33.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.80) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $198.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.90 million. Daqo New Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.90% and a negative net margin of 9.16%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Daqo New Energy Corp. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Daqo New Energy Profile

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.