First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $127.00 price target on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $202.00.

FSLR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lowered First Solar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $265.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of First Solar from $236.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of First Solar from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on First Solar from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.87.

First Solar Price Performance

FSLR opened at $130.54 on Wednesday. First Solar has a twelve month low of $116.56 and a twelve month high of $306.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.38.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.55). First Solar had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 32.41%. The business had revenue of $844.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that First Solar will post 13.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.75, for a total value of $50,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 17,594 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,197.50. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,403 shares in the company, valued at $14,589,129.27. This trade represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158 in the last three months. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Solar by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,821,701 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,259,697,000 after purchasing an additional 120,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Solar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,666,242 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $469,154,000 after buying an additional 63,739 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in First Solar by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,359,846 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 262,482 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in First Solar by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,835,056 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $323,410,000 after acquiring an additional 223,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in First Solar by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,805,244 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $336,871,000 after acquiring an additional 426,797 shares during 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.