United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

UMC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE UMC opened at $22.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.08 and a 200 day moving average of $10.40. The company has a market capitalization of $55.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.41. United Microelectronics has a 1 year low of $6.56 and a 1 year high of $23.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. Research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UMC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 873.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,492,466 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 832.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,530,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,762,000 after acquiring an additional 3,151,936 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $64,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,486 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,235,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 2,011.2% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,980,820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,996 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed (NYSE: UMC) and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC’s core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.