Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Upgraded at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $60.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $51.04 on Friday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a one year low of $40.20 and a one year high of $60.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 7.70%. The company had revenue of $202.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 21st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 20th. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently 76.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 4,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $199,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $958,487.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 4,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $199,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $958,487.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,094,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,556,241.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 613,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,842,000 after acquiring an additional 111,032 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,363 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 780.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 141,860 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,899,000 after buying an additional 125,743 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 707,299 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,396,000 after buying an additional 20,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 962.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 227,571 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after buying an additional 206,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.49% of the company’s stock.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through two segments, Capital Equipment, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company manufactures and sells advanced displays; die-transfer, flip-chip, and TCB advanced packaging products; ball bonder, die-attach, electronics assembly, lithography, wafer-level bonder, and wedge bonder products; consumables, such as capillaries, dicing blades, and wedge bonds; and auto offline programming, KNet PLUS, and new product introduction/manufacturing execution system software products.