Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Down 18.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) were down 18.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $35.19 and last traded at $35.8160. Approximately 1,757,368 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 55% from the average session volume of 1,131,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on COHU. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Cohu from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a report on Thursday, October 29th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on Cohu from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.38.

Cohu Trading Down 20.7%

The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.10 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.22. The company has a quick ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 5.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $172.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.25 million. Cohu had a positive return on equity of 1.47% and a negative net margin of 3.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.06) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cohu

In other news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.82, for a total value of $558,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 159,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,914,565.64. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 55,794 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,347,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 871,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,309,500. This represents a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 116,692 shares of company stock worth $7,374,716 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Cohu in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cohu by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Cohu by 147.9% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 528 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cohu in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Cohu in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection equipment and related services. The company supplies solutions used by semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers to evaluate devices during production, helping improve manufacturing quality, reliability and efficiency.

Cohu’s product portfolio includes semiconductor test handlers, contactors and other interface products, inspection and metrology systems, thermal-management equipment, and software for test-data analysis and factory automation.