Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.00.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of KLIC stock opened at $29.12 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.73. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12 month low of $26.63 and a 12 month high of $53.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 242.67 and a beta of 1.38.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is 683.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,361,000 after buying an additional 44,429 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 150,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 40,990 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 27.8% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,977,000 after purchasing an additional 19,279 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 32.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 48,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 11,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $548,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.