Investors Buy High Volume of United Microelectronics Call Options (NYSE:UMC)

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 43,872 call options on the company. This is an increase of 330% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,193 call options.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

United Microelectronics stock traded up $1.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.57. The stock had a trading volume of 7,995,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,809,704. United Microelectronics has a 1 year low of $6.56 and a 1 year high of $23.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.69. The stock has a market cap of $59.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.61.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. As a group, analysts predict that United Microelectronics will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UMC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 3.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 124,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,706 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 8,430.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 56,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 55,895 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 41.6% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $449,000. 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.