Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Shares Up 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM)’s stock price rose 5.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $207.45 and last traded at $205.0350. Approximately 181,588 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 2,235,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Tower Semiconductor to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised Tower Semiconductor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tower Semiconductor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.67.

Tower Semiconductor Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.77 and its 200-day moving average is $218.84. The company has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a PE ratio of 80.52 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. Tower Semiconductor had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 16.94%.The business had revenue of $460.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $454.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Russell Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.34, for a total value of $25,883,484.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,788 shares in the company, valued at $130,822,531.92. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yoav Chelouche sold 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total value of $49,893.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,254,834.04. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 181,767 shares of company stock worth $45,610,065 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tower Semiconductor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 86.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 414,850 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $70,625,000 after acquiring an additional 191,839 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Tower Semiconductor in the first quarter valued at $754,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,491,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Tower Semiconductor by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 118,406 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,378,000 after purchasing an additional 4,965 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in Tower Semiconductor by 1,175.6% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 340,108 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,025,000 after purchasing an additional 313,445 shares in the last quarter. 70.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) is a specialty semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for fabless chip companies, integrated device manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers. The company focuses on analog and mixed-signal technologies rather than high-volume digital logic, providing process development, wafer manufacturing, design enablement and other foundry services.

Its technology portfolio includes radio-frequency and high-performance analog circuits, power management, CMOS image sensors, medical and industrial sensors, silicon photonics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and automotive and industrial semiconductor solutions.