United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Rating Increased to Buy at Arete Research

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Arete Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on UMC. Wall Street Zen upgraded United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane restated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE UMC opened at $18.71 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.50. United Microelectronics has a twelve month low of $6.56 and a twelve month high of $28.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.60.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 33.18%.The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Microelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 1,794.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 62,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 59,349 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 10.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 25.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in United Microelectronics by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About United Microelectronics

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.