Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The company traded as low as $18.02 and last traded at $18.71, with a volume of 1174176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.20.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on UCTT. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Ultra Clean from $60.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Ultra Clean from $40.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Ultra Clean from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ultra Clean news, Director Ernest E. Maddock purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.29 per share, with a total value of $242,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $267,190. This represents a 1,000.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bill Bentinck acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.17 per share, for a total transaction of $75,510.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 60,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,693.15. This trade represents a 5.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultra Clean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UCTT. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 395.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,577 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,337,000 after buying an additional 66,695 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ultra Clean during the third quarter worth approximately $309,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 27.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 506,107 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,209,000 after purchasing an additional 110,403 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 376,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,519,000 after purchasing an additional 8,829 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ultra Clean by 107.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. 96.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ultra Clean Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $841.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 233.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.79.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $518.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.13 million. Ultra Clean had a net margin of 0.18% and a return on equity of 4.08%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc develops and supplies critical subsystems, components and parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services for the semiconductor industry in the United States and internationally. The company provides ultra-clean valves, high purity connectors, industrial process connectors and valves, pneumatic actuators, manifolds and safety solutions, hoses, pressure gauges, and gas line and component heaters; chemical delivery modules that deliver gases and reactive chemicals in a liquid or gaseous form from a centralized subsystem to the reaction chamber; and gas delivery systems, such as weldments, filters, mass flow controllers, regulators, pressure transducers and valves, component heaters, and an integrated electronic and/or pneumatic control system.