United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.84, but opened at $25.60. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $25.4270, with a volume of 1,835,320 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on UMC. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.62 and a 200 day moving average of $14.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.58.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 20.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.4122 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 166.0%. This is a positive change from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is 49.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 3,854.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 168,648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 164,383 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 792,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,228,000 after buying an additional 95,871 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its position in United Microelectronics by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 495,589 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,895,000 after buying an additional 70,597 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in United Microelectronics by 115.3% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 86,927 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 46,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,779,000. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About United Microelectronics

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.