STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on STM. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Monday, July 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of STMicroelectronics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.65.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 3.9%

NYSE:STM opened at $54.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $48.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.28 and a beta of 1.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.74. STMicroelectronics has a 1 year low of $21.11 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 3.56%. As a group, analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STM. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,532,428 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $273,211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,426 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,156,161 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $159,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,113 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,199,951 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $134,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 43.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,348,569 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $132,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,107,386 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $80,606,000 after purchasing an additional 146,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics is a global semiconductor company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, formed through the 1987 merger of SGS Microelettronica and Thomson Semiconducteurs. The company designs, develops and manufactures a broad range of semiconductor products and solutions that serve multiple end markets worldwide. ST’s offerings span from basic components to integrated systems, emphasizing energy-efficient and high-performance devices for modern electronics.

Product categories include microcontrollers (notably the widely used STM32 family), analog and mixed-signal ICs, power MOSFETs and power-management devices, MEMS and sensors, image sensors, and discrete semiconductors.