Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Raised to Strong-Buy at Robert W. Baird

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) was upgraded by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

COHU has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.14.

Cohu Trading Up 5.8%

COHU opened at $55.14 on Wednesday. Cohu has a 52 week low of $17.80 and a 52 week high of $74.60. The company has a quick ratio of 5.31, a current ratio of 6.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.58. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.34 and a beta of 1.55.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. Cohu’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Cohu will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Cohu news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $368,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,689.20. This represents a 23.23% 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 sold a total of 90,668 shares of company stock worth $4,248,016 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Cohu in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cohu by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cohu by 202.7% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

About Cohu

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.