First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to “Outperform” Rating

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The firm currently has a $221.00 target price on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 41.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on FSLR. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of First Solar from $275.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn raised First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of First Solar from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on First Solar from $253.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Solar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.76.

First Solar Price Performance

NASDAQ FSLR opened at $156.21 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $130.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.25. The stock has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.46. First Solar has a 52 week low of $116.56 and a 52 week high of $306.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.55). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The business had revenue of $844.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that First Solar will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $50,825.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 17,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,197.50. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,589,129.27. This represents a 17.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,200,342 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,668,919,000 after purchasing an additional 378,641 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Solar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,666,242 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $469,154,000 after buying an additional 63,739 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 32.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,427,500 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $306,909,000 after acquiring an additional 592,444 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in First Solar by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,359,846 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 262,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,805,244 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $336,871,000 after purchasing an additional 426,797 shares during the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc, a solar technology company, provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United States, France, Japan, Chile, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells PV solar modules with a thin film semiconductor technology that provides a lower-carbon alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules.