SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) Downgraded by Evercore ISI

SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $6.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price suggests a potential upside of 180.37% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on SPWR. UBS Group raised their target price on SunPower from $4.00 to $4.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $4.00 target price (down from $6.00) on shares of SunPower in a report on Monday, January 8th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on SunPower from $4.50 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on SunPower from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of SunPower from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SunPower has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.76.

SunPower Stock Performance

Shares of SPWR stock opened at $2.14 on Tuesday. SunPower has a fifty-two week low of $2.14 and a fifty-two week high of $14.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.56 and a beta of 1.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.83.

SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.24). SunPower had a negative return on equity of 40.95% and a negative net margin of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $356.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SunPower will post -0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SunPower

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in shares of SunPower during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC raised its stake in SunPower by 46.4% during the first quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 64,619 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 20,493 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in SunPower in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SunPower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $762,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SunPower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,000. 47.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SunPower

SunPower Corporation, a solar technology and energy services provider, offers solar, storage, and home energy solutions primarily in the United States and Canada. Its solutions include the Equinox and SunVault systems which are pre-engineered modular solutions for residential applications that combine solar module technology with integrated plug-and-play power stations, cable management systems, and mounting hardware that enable dealers and installers to complete system installations, as well as for end customers to manage their energy production.