First Solar (FSLR) Given a $80.00 Price Target at Roth Capital

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) has been given a $80.00 price target by stock analysts at Roth Capital in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the solar cell manufacturer’s stock. Roth Capital’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.48% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on FSLR. Vetr upgraded shares of First Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $68.12 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $69.00 price target on shares of First Solar and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of First Solar in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. JMP Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $67.00) on shares of First Solar in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. First Solar has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.64.

First Solar (NASDAQ FSLR) traded down $0.83 on Monday, hitting $67.52. 1,499,589 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,726,271. The company has a market capitalization of $7,140.00, a P/E ratio of -16.23 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 6.47 and a current ratio of 6.85. First Solar has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $71.80.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.84 by $1.11. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $859.22 million. First Solar had a negative net margin of 14.70% and a positive return on equity of 8.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. equities analysts anticipate that First Solar will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 20,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.40, for a total transaction of $1,305,388.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,754 shares in the company, valued at $6,488,557.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raffi Garabedian sold 11,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.06, for a total value of $790,557.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,227 shares in the company, valued at $646,443.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in First Solar by 12,600.7% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,679,286 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $67,306,000 after buying an additional 1,666,064 shares in the last quarter. Key Square Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Solar during the third quarter valued at approximately $23,621,000. Ecofin Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First Solar during the second quarter valued at approximately $19,485,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in First Solar in the second quarter worth $15,099,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Solar in the second quarter worth $14,135,000. 50.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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About First Solar

First Solar, Inc is a provider of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions. The Company designs, manufactures and sells PV solar modules with a thin-film semiconductor technology. The Company also develops, designs, constructs and sells PV solar power systems that primarily use the modules it manufactures.