United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Exane BNP Paribas

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Exane BNP Paribas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $8.60 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America downgraded United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UMC opened at $10.57 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.65. United Microelectronics has a twelve month low of $5.71 and a twelve month high of $12.68. The company has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 17.60%.The company had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UMC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in United Microelectronics by 1,794.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in United Microelectronics by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in United Microelectronics by 25.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 6,028 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the second quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the second quarter worth about $139,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.