Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC)

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 2,665 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 290% compared to the typical daily volume of 683 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UMC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics has an average rating of “Hold”.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:UMC traded up $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $8.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,119,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,870,270. United Microelectronics has a 1 year low of $5.61 and a 1 year high of $9.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.08.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.25 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 11.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in United Microelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 313.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the second quarter valued at $77,000. MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors 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.