BNP Paribas Exane Upgrades United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) to Neutral

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) was upgraded by research analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $8.60 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.17% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UMC opened at $8.62 on Tuesday. United Microelectronics has a 12-month low of $5.71 and a 12-month high of $12.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.04 and a 200 day moving average of $8.51.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 11.45%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Microelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 1,794.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 62,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 59,349 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 10.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,438,000 after acquiring an additional 537,777 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 25.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 6,028 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in United Microelectronics by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,668,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,767,000 after purchasing an additional 302,617 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Hedge funds and other 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.