Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Stock Price Up 7% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) traded up 7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $48.42 and last traded at $49.1780. 68,114 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 1,114,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a report on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Cohu from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Cohu in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.75.

Cohu Trading Up 8.1%

The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.82 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.35. The company has a current ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.12. Cohu had a negative net margin of 7.43% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. The firm had revenue of $149.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. Cohu’s revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cohu news, Director Andrew M. Caggia sold 15,252 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.74, for a total value of $789,138.48. Following the sale, the director directly owned 64,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,351,613.72. This trade represents a 19.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.82, for a total value of $558,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 159,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,914,565.64. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,307 shares of company stock valued at $1,630,573. Insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COHU. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cohu in the 2nd quarter valued at about $545,932,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Cohu by 7,111.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,239,478 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $313,340,000 after purchasing an additional 4,180,686 shares during the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cohu in the 4th quarter worth about $33,174,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth $77,814,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 worth $22,612,000 after purchasing an additional 972,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

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.