United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.83, but opened at $24.10. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $23.7430, with a volume of 4,449,146 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on UMC shares. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Down 8.3%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.72.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.4122 per share. This is a positive change from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 144.0%. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UMC. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in United Microelectronics by 271.0% during the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $210,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 3.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 124,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,706 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 8,430.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 56,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 55,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 41.6% during the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed (NYSE: UMC) and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC’s core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.