Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.63 and last traded at $62.41, with a volume of 1957104 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COHU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.33.

Cohu Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.44 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 6.43 and a quick ratio of 5.31.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $368,550.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,689.20. This trade represents a 23.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 343,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,103,217.28. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,016. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cohu

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Cohu during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cohu by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cohu during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cohu during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cohu by 202.7% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.