Are Analysts Giving Up on SunEdison?

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By Paul Ausick Updated Published
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Are Analysts Giving Up on SunEdison?

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SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) has had some defenders of the company, but this week may have been the week where the holdout bulls who insisted there was value here finally capitulated. The bad news continues piling up as cash dwindles and a contract with Hawaiian Electric was cancelled.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch offered this analysis of SunEdison:

We are downgrading shares of SunEdison to Neutral. Our three main reasons are (1) continued concerns around access to financing, (2) legal issues related to the Latin America Power (LAP) and Vivint Solar transactions, and (3) execution challenges given the significant numbers of distractions facing the management team. While underlying solar market fundamentals remain robust and SUNE could continue to benefit from the industry trends, we believe financing and legal overhangs could continue to keep the stock volatile and therefore move to the sidelines.

The analysts also cut their price target from $10.00 to $2.50.

Credit Suisse cut its rating from Outperform to Neutral and slashed its price target from $19 to $3, and UBS cut its price target from $2.00 to $0.75 with a Sell rating.
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Janney lowered its fair value price to $5.50 and cut its rating from Buy to Neutral. The analysts explained:

The recent announcement regarding Hawaiian Electric’s (HECO) withdrawal from its power purchase agreement for three utility-scale solar facilities to be built by SunEdison is the primary determinant in our re-rating, given our belief that lack of project execution could be indicative of more serious cash flow concerns than we previously anticipated, and that the likelihood of SunEdison achieving the aggregate cash walk outlined in its 1/7/16 business update has diminished.

Shares closed at $1.43 on Friday, down 5.3%, in a 52-week range of $1.37 to $33.45. The consensus price target on the stock is $12.75, but the recent changes may not be included yet.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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