First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Free Report) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Guggenheim from $277.00 to $334.00 in a report issued on Monday, FlyOnTheWall reports. Guggenheim’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 78.77% from the stock’s previous close.
Several other brokerages also recently commented on FSLR. TD Cowen lifted their target price on First Solar from $205.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded First Solar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $194.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on First Solar from $232.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded First Solar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.04.
First Solar Price Performance
Shares of FSLR traded down $2.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $186.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 547,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,416,159. First Solar has a one year low of $60.96 and a one year high of $232.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 480.47 and a beta of 1.36.
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR – Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $548.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.66 million. First Solar had a return on equity of 0.71% and a net margin of 1.49%. The company’s revenue was up 49.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.41) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Solar will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at First Solar
In related news, Director William J. Post sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.52, for a total value of $2,185,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,207 shares in the company, valued at $5,289,713.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other First Solar news, Director William J. Post sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.52, for a total transaction of $2,185,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,207 shares in the company, valued at $5,289,713.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 39,948 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.97, for a total value of $7,988,401.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,029,895.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,448 shares of company stock worth $12,182,857. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in First Solar by 2.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,656,540 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,970,297,000 after acquiring an additional 308,610 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,457,489 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,250,942,000 after buying an additional 136,323 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Solar by 77.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,786,315 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,041,024,000 after buying an additional 2,096,612 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in First Solar by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,266,552 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $927,972,000 after purchasing an additional 179,035 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First Solar by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,236,723 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $485,528,000 after purchasing an additional 56,383 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.74% of the company’s stock.
About First Solar
First Solar, Inc provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United State, Japan, France, Canada, India, Australia, and internationally. The company designs, manufactures, and sells cadmium telluride solar modules that converts sunlight into electricity. It serves developers and operators of systems, utilities, independent power producers, commercial and industrial companies, and other system owners.