Royal Bank of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Stock Price

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $315.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 41.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on FSLR. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on First Solar from $311.00 to $279.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of First Solar from $219.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of First Solar in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of First Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of First Solar from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $254.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Solar currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.71.

First Solar Trading Down 1.1 %

FSLR traded down $2.12 on Wednesday, hitting $197.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,725,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,412,215. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $223.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.11. First Solar has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $306.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $21.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.44.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released 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). The company had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 17.73%. First Solar’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Solar will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Solar

In related news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Byron Michael Jeffers sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 8,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.00, for a total value of $1,913,418.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,896. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,885 shares of company stock worth $2,405,757. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Solar by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,257,053 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,068,991,000 after purchasing an additional 105,236 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 81,947.0% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,669,757 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,729,223,000 after acquiring an additional 7,660,409 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in First Solar by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,801,916 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $472,963,000 after purchasing an additional 279,719 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Solar by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 795,393 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $179,478,000 after purchasing an additional 64,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in First Solar by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 652,354 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $147,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

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.