Simmons Bank Acquires New Holdings in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Simmons Bank bought a new position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 902 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FSLR. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 81,947.0% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,669,757 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $1,729,223,000 after buying an additional 7,660,409 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in First Solar by 1,757.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 546,193 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $136,242,000 after acquiring an additional 516,783 shares during the period. Anomaly Capital Management LP purchased a new position in First Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,752,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in First Solar by 24,844.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 217,512 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $542,560,000 after purchasing an additional 216,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of First Solar by 2,429.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 174,530 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $39,350,000 after purchasing an additional 167,629 shares in the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FSLR shares. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of First Solar from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised First Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $254.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target (down previously from $286.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on First Solar from $321.00 to $269.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.50.

First Solar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $195.14 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.48. First Solar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.88 and a fifty-two week high of $306.77.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by ($0.19). First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company had revenue of $887.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. First Solar’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About First Solar

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.