Roth Mkm Reiterates “Buy” Rating for First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Roth Mkm restated their buy rating on shares of First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $230.00 price objective on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock.

FSLR has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on First Solar from $187.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and issued a $258.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a report on Friday, April 5th. DZ Bank assumed coverage on First Solar in a report on Wednesday. They issued a buy rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on First Solar in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $236.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $227.04.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $174.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.41. First Solar has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $232.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. First Solar had a return on equity of 13.80% and a net margin of 25.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.07) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that First Solar will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Solar news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 1,937 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $338,975.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 12,536 shares in the company, valued at $2,193,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other First Solar news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 1,937 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $338,975.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 12,536 shares in the company, valued at $2,193,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Georges Antoun sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.55, for a total value of $2,592,551.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,539,477.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,620 shares of company stock worth $4,269,540 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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 FSLR. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of First Solar by 160.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 26,796 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,244,000 after buying an additional 16,515 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 13.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 71.0% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,464 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of First Solar by 1.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 50,128 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $4,198,000 after buying an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of First Solar by 11.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 25,804 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $2,161,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

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.