United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $15.92, but opened at $16.86. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $17.0090, with a volume of 3,493,515 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UMC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded United Microelectronics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.60 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 20.71%. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UMC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 873.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,492,466 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 832.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,530,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151,936 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $64,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,486 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the third quarter valued at about $21,235,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 2,011.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,980,820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,996 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.