STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Short Interest Down 14.4% in February

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,330,000 shares, a decline of 14.4% from the February 13th total of 16,740,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

STMicroelectronics Stock Down 2.8 %

STM stock traded down $0.71 on Thursday, hitting $24.78. 2,051,966 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,774,906. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $21.36 and a 12-month high of $45.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 131.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939,088 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 576.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,707 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 674.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,396,700 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $41,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,300 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $83,165,000 after purchasing an additional 938,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,767,787 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $44,142,000 after purchasing an additional 858,624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on STMicroelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lowered STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.26.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.