United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $24.92, but opened at $22.73. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $23.0020, with a volume of 3,147,365 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on UMC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. 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, United Microelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.58.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.4122 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This is a positive change from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. This represents a yield of 166.0%. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in United Microelectronics by 873.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,389,000 after buying an additional 8,492,466 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 832.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,530,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,762,000 after acquiring an additional 3,151,936 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $64,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,486 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the third quarter valued at about $21,235,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 2,011.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,980,820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,996 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by 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.