Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Short Interest Up 21.7% in January

Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 960,800 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the January 15th total of 789,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 341,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on SIMO shares. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum reduced their price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.63.

Silicon Motion Technology Price Performance

Shares of SIMO stock traded up $1.19 on Friday, hitting $56.47. The stock had a trading volume of 340,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,092. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.82. Silicon Motion Technology has a 1 year low of $48.81 and a 1 year high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 11.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Silicon Motion Technology will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor producer to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SIMO. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,948 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,959 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 5,668 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,026 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. 78.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silicon Motion Technology Company Profile

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.