United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $16.06, but opened at $14.35. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $13.8380, with a volume of 3,917,431 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. HSBC raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $37.42 to $33.76 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.79.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $34.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.16.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). United Microelectronics had a net margin of 31.96% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 28.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 16,994 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,808 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 230,598 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,647,000 after purchasing an additional 7,572 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 414.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,670 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 11,818 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,843 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,537 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for other companies. It provides wafer fabrication and related services to fabless chip designers and integrated device manufacturers, rather than selling its own branded semiconductor products.

Founded in 1980, UMC was Taiwan’s first semiconductor company. Its manufacturing and technology offerings serve applications including communications, consumer electronics, computing, automotive and industrial products.