Camtek Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:CAMT)

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 4,034 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 229% compared to the typical volume of 1,225 put options.

Camtek Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Camtek stock opened at $79.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.83. The company has a current ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Camtek has a twelve month low of $24.89 and a twelve month high of $90.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.41.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Camtek had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm had revenue of $88.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Camtek will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Camtek Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Variable dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $1.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Camtek’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.10%.

Institutional Trading of Camtek

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAMT. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Camtek during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Camtek by 574.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in Camtek by 1,436.2% in the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Camtek in the 1st quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Camtek by 116.1% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. 41.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Camtek from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Camtek in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Camtek in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.75.

Camtek Company Profile

Camtek Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells inspection and metrology equipment for semiconductor industry. The company provides Eagle-i, a system that delivers 2D inspection and metrology capabilities; Eagle-AP, which addresses the advanced packaging market using software and hardware technologies that deliver superior 2D and 3D inspection and metrology capabilities on the same platform; and Golden Eagle, a panel inspection and metrology system to address the challenges fanout wafer level packaging applications.