Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Shares Climb 7.1% – What’s Next?

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) shot up 7.1% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $174.92 and last traded at $179.4960. 939,573 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 2,259,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TSEM shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Tower Semiconductor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Tower Semiconductor to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Friday, August 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $367.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a report on Friday, September 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $310.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.00.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Up 9.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $217.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.67 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.91.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.83%. The business had revenue of $460.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.68 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tower Semiconductor

In other news, Director Yoav Chelouche sold 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total transaction of $49,893.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,254,834.04. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.34, for a total transaction of $25,883,484.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,822,531.92. This represents a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 181,767 shares of company stock valued at $45,610,065 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tower Semiconductor

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Tower Semiconductor by 86.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 414,850 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $70,625,000 after acquiring an additional 191,839 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Tower Semiconductor in the 1st quarter valued at $754,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor in the second quarter worth about $2,044,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the second quarter valued at $3,491,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in Tower Semiconductor by 1,175.6% during the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 340,108 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,025,000 after acquiring an additional 313,445 shares during the period. 70.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is an Israeli specialty semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers and system companies. The company provides process technologies and production services rather than selling branded end-user electronics.

Its offerings include analog and mixed-signal technologies, radio-frequency and high-voltage circuits, power management solutions, image sensors, and specialty memory products.