Mendon Capital Advisors Corp Acquires Shares of 7,926 First Solar, Inc. $FSLR

Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,926 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FSLR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Solar by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,919,991 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $761,396,000 after purchasing an additional 24,206 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Solar by 60.6% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,266,050 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $375,122,000 after buying an additional 854,919 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,215,461 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $578,791,000 after acquiring an additional 189,626 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $392,040,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,427,105 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $372,803,000 after acquiring an additional 100,908 shares during the last quarter. 92.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline Stockdale sold 10,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.60, for a total transaction of $2,929,076.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,557,075.20. This trade represents a 30.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Jason E. Dymbort sold 409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.63, for a total transaction of $88,192.67. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 10,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,492.67. This represents a 3.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 31,893 shares of company stock valued at $7,893,775 in the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Solar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSLR opened at $202.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. First Solar, Inc. has a 12-month low of $171.99 and a 12-month high of $320.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.61.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 30.73% and a return on equity of 18.01%. First Solar’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting First Solar

Here are the key news stories impacting First Solar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roth Capital reaffirmed its buy rating on First Solar and set a $300 price target, implying meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Industry commentary highlighted record U.S. solar power output and rising electricity demand from AI data centers, which supports the broader solar demand narrative and could benefit First Solar over time. 24/7 Wall St.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms, including Rosen, Howard G. Smith, Schall, Kaplan Fox, Faruqi & Faruqi, and others, reminded investors about pending First Solar securities-fraud class actions and the August 24 lead-plaintiff deadline. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting showed no meaningful update, with the latest filing indicating zero shares reported short and a days-to-cover ratio of 0.0, so it does not appear to be a current market driver.
• Negative Sentiment: The ongoing securities-fraud litigation headlines create a legal overhang that may pressure the shares until there is more clarity on the case outcome.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on FSLR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised First Solar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of First Solar from $211.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of First Solar in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of First Solar from $252.00 to $237.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $213.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.10.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin‑film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility‑scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.