First Hawaiian Bank Grows Stock Position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

First Hawaiian Bank boosted its stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,926 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in First Solar were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 81,947.0% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 7,660,409 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,956,633 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,236,383,000 after buying an additional 108,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,602,503 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $647,440,000 after buying an additional 24,143 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,097,364 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $523,166,000 after buying an additional 904,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,743,813 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $434,977,000 after buying an additional 15,890 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FSLR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on First Solar from $368.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $286.00) on shares of First Solar in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on First Solar from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised First Solar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on First Solar from $311.00 to $279.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.75.

First Solar Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $189.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. First Solar, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.88 and a 1-year high of $306.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.16.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by ($0.19). First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company had revenue of $887.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

First Solar 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.