Company Update (NASDAQ:CSIQ): Canadian Solar Inc. Wraps Up Financial Close on Australia-Based Oakey 2 Solar Farm
Canadian Solar Inc.(NASDAQ:CSIQ) just revealed that for a facility commitment of roughly A$55 million, or what translates to $42.8 million in U.S. dollars, one of the leading solar power players in the globe has now hit a financial close with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) on its Queensland, Australia solar farm: the Oakey 2. Notably, the energy company's project flashes a 70 MWp capacity and stands under the aggregate 117 MWp solar portfolio sale to Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL).
Further, Canadian Solar has won the EPC contract to complete the construction of the Oakey 2 Solar Farm and another contract to provide O&M services for the initial two years after completion. The Oakey 2 Solar Farm will be powered by 205,860 Canadian Solar KuMax CS3U-340P solar panels and is expected to reach commercial operation in November 2018. Once operational, the project will generate approximately 138,800 MWh of clean solar power per year powering over 23,000 homes in Queensland.
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CEFC has provided non-recourse project finance to Canadian Solar across each of its Oakey 1 Solar Farm, Longreach Solar Farm and Oakey 2 Solar Farmprojects in Queensland, Australia. Longreach Solar Farm and Oakey 1 Solar Farm, each holding 20-year off-take agreements with the Queensland Government, are in late-stage construction and will reach the grid connection in March and August 2018, respectively. Both the Oakey 1 and Oakey 2 solar farms will be connected to the Queensland power grid through a shared transmission line, funded within the innovative financing facility from CEFC.
"We are pleased to partner with FSFL and the CEFC on extending our integrated business across the solar value chain in Australia's clean energy sector," commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "With a pipeline exceeding 1,000 MW of early to late-stage developments across four states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia), we continue to commit to a sustainable clean energy future for Australia."
Shares of Canadian Solar closed on Friday at $16.86. CSIQ has a 1-year high of $19.09 and a 1-year low of $10.86. The stock's 50-day moving average is $17.47 and its 200-day moving average is $16.62.
On the ratings front, Canadian Solar has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. In a report issued on December 15, Axiom analyst Gordon Johnson downgraded CSIQ to Hold, with a price target of $17, which represents a slight upside potential from current levels. Separately, on December 12, J.P. Morgan's Paul Coster downgraded the stock to Sell and has a price target of $15.
According to TipRanks.com, which ranks over 7,500 financial analysts and bloggers to gauge the performance of their past recommendations, Gordon Johnson and Paul Coster have a yearly average return of 1.0% and a loss of -3.9% respectively. Johnson has a success rate of 54% and is ranked #2480 out of 4727 analysts, while Coster has a success rate of 43% and is ranked #4483.
Overall, one research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, 4 research analysts have assigned a Hold rating and 2 research analysts have given a Buy rating to the stock. When considering if perhaps the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $19.86 which is 17.8% above where the stock closed on Friday.
Canadian Solar, Inc. engages in the design, development, and sale of solar photovoltaic modules. It offers solar ingots, wafers, cells, modules, and other solar power products. It operates through the Module and Energy segments. The Module segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells solar power products and solar system kits. The Energy segment consists of solar power project development and sale; engineering, procurement, and construction and development services; operations and maintenance services; and operating solar power projects, and sales of electricity.
