Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $315.00 target price on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of First Solar from $248.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of First Solar from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $224.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $268.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of First Solar from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and set a $227.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $271.92.

First Solar Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of FSLR stock opened at $233.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.94. First Solar has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.30. First Solar had a net margin of 28.75% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $794.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 44.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that First Solar will post 13.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Solar

In other news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $421,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,740. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 1,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $421,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,740. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Alexander R. Bradley sold 16,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.69, for a total transaction of $4,409,049.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,652 shares in the company, valued at $8,419,797.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,153 shares of company stock valued at $12,540,428 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in First Solar in the 4th quarter valued at about $298,123,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in First Solar by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,454,499 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 351,540 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in First Solar by 504.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 399,650 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $68,852,000 after acquiring an additional 333,496 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in First Solar by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,801,916 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $472,963,000 after acquiring an additional 279,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Solar by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,040,031 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,945,549,000 after purchasing an additional 279,424 shares in the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.