United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $21.76, but opened at $23.63. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $23.3610, with a volume of 2,740,366 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 8.3%

The company has a market cap of $59.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Arax Advisory Partners increased its stake in United Microelectronics by 583.7% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 8,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in United Microelectronics by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.