First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $228.8024.

FSLR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of First Solar from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $202.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $194.00 target price on shares of First Solar and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Solar news, insider Patrick James Buehler sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $288,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,640. This represents a 26.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 2,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.44, for a total value of $462,900.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,326,357.84. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,315 shares of company stock valued at $6,021,305 over the last three months. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,621,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Solar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $114,730,000. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,266,050 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $375,122,000 after buying an additional 854,919 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 16,857.8% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 759,033 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $95,965,000 after buying an additional 754,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,427,500 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $306,909,000 after buying an additional 592,444 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSLR opened at $212.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $191.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $22.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.41. First Solar has a 52-week low of $116.56 and a 52-week high of $262.72.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 28.95% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.25 EPS. First Solar has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-16.500 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Solar will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.

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.