Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.63 and last traded at $62.41, with a volume of 1957104 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on COHU. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.33.

Cohu Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.32 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a current ratio of 6.43.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other news, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,103,217.28. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $368,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,689.20. The trade was a 23.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,016. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Cohu during the third quarter valued at approximately $243,960,000. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cohu by 478.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after buying an additional 972,088 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,887,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 531,661 shares in the last quarter. 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.