First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Earns Buy Rating from Guggenheim

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Guggenheim in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $335.00 price target on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 88.33% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down from $286.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of First Solar from $240.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of First Solar from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on First Solar from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on First Solar from $290.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.75.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSLR traded down $5.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $177.88. 925,605 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,710,155. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.49. First Solar has a 52 week low of $135.88 and a 52 week high of $306.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.09.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.10 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that First Solar will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Solar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in First Solar in the fourth quarter valued at $1,440,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,139 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 6,687 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Solar by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,859 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.