Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Shares Climb 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) shares rose 5.9% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $230.29 and last traded at $230.1240. Approximately 283,536 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,262,747 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSEM has been the topic of several research reports. National Bank Financial raised Tower Semiconductor to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Tower Semiconductor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Tower Semiconductor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.00.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.91.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $460.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.68 million. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yoav Chelouche sold 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 33,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,254,834.04. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Russell Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,822,531.92. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 181,767 shares of company stock valued at $45,610,065 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSEM. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,530,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Tower Semiconductor by 214.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,206,467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,421 shares in the last quarter. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd purchased a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $172,848,000. E20 Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Tower Semiconductor during the 1st quarter valued at $107,708,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Tower Semiconductor during the 1st quarter valued at $85,435,000. 70.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.