Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $48.54 and last traded at $47.7110, with a volume of 669117 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on UCTT shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Ultra Clean from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ultra Clean from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ultra Clean in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ultra Clean in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.33.

Ultra Clean Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of -13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.46.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Ultra Clean had a negative net margin of 7.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $510.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $505.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Ultra Clean’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ultra Clean

In related news, Director David T. Ibnale sold 23,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $625,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 45,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,767.83. This trade represents a 34.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultra Clean

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Ultra Clean by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,093 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 13,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.3% in the second quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 16,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 148.9% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Ultra Clean by 7.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.06% of the company’s stock.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc is a global supplier of critical consumables and process tools for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company specializes in precision parts cleaning, chemical–mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries, surface conditioning pads, and specialty components used in wafer fabrication and advanced packaging. Ultra Clean also provides assembly and test hardware, tooling, and automated modules designed to support complex front-end and back-end processes in semiconductor fabs.

Ultra Clean’s product portfolio encompasses a range of cleaning systems and consumables aimed at particle and film removal, as well as CMP slurries and pads that are engineered for uniform material removal and planarization.