Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $55.02, but opened at $52.33. Cohu shares last traded at $53.3450, with a volume of 81,772 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Cohu and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.29.

Cohu Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.46. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.00 and a beta of 1.55.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other news, Director Steven J. Bilodeau sold 10,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total transaction of $460,026.45. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,399.20. This represents a 16.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. The trade was a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 89,668 shares of company stock worth $4,210,016 in the last three months. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cohu

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $478,000. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Cohu in the 2nd quarter valued at $301,000. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cohu during the 2nd quarter valued at $237,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in shares of Cohu by 125.5% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 955,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,253,000 after purchasing an additional 531,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Cohu by 2.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 517,195 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

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.