Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Amtech Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Amtech Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.00.

Amtech Systems Stock Performance

Shares of ASYS stock opened at $15.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $271.23 million, a P/E ratio of 59.58 and a beta of 2.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.67. Amtech Systems has a 52 week low of $6.75 and a 52 week high of $25.71.

Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. Amtech Systems had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $22.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.50 million. Analysts forecast that Amtech Systems will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amtech Systems

In other Amtech Systems news, CEO Guy Shechter purchased 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $49,473.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,473. This represents a 6.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 26.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amtech Systems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new stake in Amtech Systems during the second quarter worth about $15,925,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Amtech Systems by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 676,006 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,260,000 after purchasing an additional 17,099 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Amtech Systems by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 365,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 18,354 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 235.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 352,624 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,425,000 after buying an additional 247,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amtech Systems by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 325,754 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after buying an additional 150,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.21% of the company’s stock.

About Amtech Systems

Amtech Systems, Inc is a global supplier of capital equipment and aftermarket parts for the solar photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. The company’s solutions support key steps in wafer and cell production, offering both new machinery and spares designed to optimize yield, throughput and energy efficiency. Amtech operates through two primary segments: solar manufacturing and semiconductor & electronics packaging.

In its solar segment, Amtech provides diffusion furnaces, epitaxy reactors and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems used in high-volume solar cell fabrication.