Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday. The company traded as high as $74.69 and last traded at $73.7260, with a volume of 423206 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COHU. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Cohu in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.75.

Cohu Trading Up 5.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 4.72, a current ratio of 5.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $54.14 and its 200-day moving average is $50.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of -89.32 and a beta of 1.50.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $149.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. Cohu’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cohu

In related news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 55,794 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $3,347,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 871,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,309,500. This trade represents a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Nina Richardson sold 3,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $157,454.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 39,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,853.22. This trade represents a 7.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 112,337 shares of company stock worth $6,684,673 over the last ninety days. 3.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cohu during the second quarter worth approximately $269,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cohu during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,224,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cohu during the 2nd quarter valued at $244,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth $1,839,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth $143,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc provides semiconductor test and inspection equipment, consumables and related services used by semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers. Its solutions support the testing and handling of integrated circuits throughout the manufacturing process, helping customers evaluate device performance, reliability and quality.

The company’s product portfolio includes semiconductor test handlers, inspection and metrology systems, thermal-management equipment, test contactors and other interface products.