Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $58.70 and last traded at $58.6050, with a volume of 1115963 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on COHU shares. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Cohu in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cohu presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Cohu Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 6.43 and a quick ratio of 5.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.54 and a beta of 1.62.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The firm had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.14 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. The trade was a 4.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,103,217.28. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,212,706. 3.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COHU. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Cohu by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Cohu in the 1st quarter worth approximately $276,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Cohu by 2,042.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 162,674 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after acquiring an additional 155,082 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 114,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cohu by 478.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after buying an additional 972,088 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.