Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB – Get Rating)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $17.21, but opened at $18.92. Photronics shares last traded at $19.43, with a volume of 343,889 shares.

The semiconductor company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $229.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 14.04%. Photronics’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Photronics in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Northland Securities raised their price objective on Photronics from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Photronics in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLAB. Meros Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 3.6% during the first quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 523,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,682,000 after purchasing an additional 18,255 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 2.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,009,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,316,000 after purchasing an additional 48,647 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 3.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 160,125 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,655,000 after purchasing an additional 4,892 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 0.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,297,635 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,515,000 after purchasing an additional 10,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 3.3% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 449,520 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,453,000 after acquiring an additional 14,530 shares during the last quarter. 90.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Photronics Stock Up 10.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.89 and a quick ratio of 3.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.16.

About Photronics

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Photronics, Inc engages in the provision of photomasks. It manufactures semiconductors and flat-panel displays and is used as masters to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and FPD substrates during the fabrication of integrated circuits, a variety of FPDs and other types of electrical and optical components.