United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $21.15 and last traded at $20.95, with a volume of 3598576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded United Microelectronics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.60 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 17.2%

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 company has a market cap of $53.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.01.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 20.71%.The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UMC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 313.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3,234 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners lifted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 583.7% during the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 8,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.