Eastern Bank Makes New Investment in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)

Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,000 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STM. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,051 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 2.9% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 12,970 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 4.6% during the second quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 21,784 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,967 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:STM opened at $28.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.57. STMicroelectronics has a 1 year low of $26.63 and a 1 year high of $51.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.98.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on STM. Citigroup upgraded STMicroelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded STMicroelectronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.80.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.