Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Trading Up 3.3%

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) shares were up 3.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $27.35 and last traded at $27.18. Approximately 346,839 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 515,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Photronics Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 1.41.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.09). Photronics had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The firm had revenue of $217.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Photronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delphi Management Inc. MA bought a new position in Photronics during the first quarter worth about $1,507,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Photronics during the first quarter worth about $216,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in Photronics during the first quarter worth about $313,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 5.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 149,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after acquiring an additional 7,708 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Photronics during the first quarter worth approximately $268,000. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

About Photronics

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.