Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $52.51, but opened at $55.51. Cohu shares last traded at $56.2710, with a volume of 104,660 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price target on Cohu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research raised Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Six research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Cohu Trading Down 0.9%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.80. The company has a quick ratio of 5.31, a current ratio of 6.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.77 and a beta of 1.62.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cohu news, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,103,217.28. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. This trade represents a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,212,706. 3.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Cohu in the third quarter valued at approximately $243,960,000. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cohu in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 478.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,612,000 after buying an additional 972,088 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cohu in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,887,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 125.5% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 955,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,253,000 after buying an additional 531,661 shares during the period. 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.