Investors Buy High Volume of Daqo New Energy Call Options (NYSE:DQ)

Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 3,101 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 156% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,210 call options.

Daqo New Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DQ opened at $20.39 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.04. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.32. Daqo New Energy has a twelve month low of $17.30 and a twelve month high of $43.66.

Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.32). Daqo New Energy had a return on equity of 2.46% and a net margin of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $415.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Daqo New Energy will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Daqo New Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Daqo New Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Sylebra Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Daqo New Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $13,025,000. Caxton Associates LP grew its position in shares of Daqo New Energy by 250.3% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 140,787 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,963,000 after purchasing an additional 100,594 shares during the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Daqo New Energy by 20.6% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 10,734 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Daqo New Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,457,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on DQ shares. Daiwa Capital Markets restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Daqo New Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Daqo New Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $17.50 price target (down previously from $23.50) on shares of Daqo New Energy in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.63.

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.