United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) Receives $8.60 Average Price Target from Brokerages

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) has been given an average rating of “Strong Sell” by the four research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.60.

A number of brokerages have commented on UMC. Wall Street Zen cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Tuesday, May 26th.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of United Microelectronics stock opened at $21.39 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. United Microelectronics has a 12-month low of $6.56 and a 12-month high of $28.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.35.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts predict that United Microelectronics will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.4122 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 166.0%. This is a boost from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. United Microelectronics’s payout ratio is 49.23%.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UMC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in United Microelectronics by 1,794.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 62,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 59,349 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $40,438,000 after buying an additional 537,777 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 25.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 6,028 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 37.9% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

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.