Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $53.77 and last traded at $52.5770, with a volume of 223857 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on Cohu and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Cohu Trading Down 1.6%

The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.42 and a beta of 1.61.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. Cohu’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,103,217.28. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,212,706. Insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COHU. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Cohu in the third quarter valued at $243,960,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cohu by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $101,484,000 after acquiring an additional 57,618 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Cohu by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,918,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cohu by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,819,530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cohu in the fourth quarter valued at $33,174,000. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.