Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $48.54 and last traded at $47.7110, with a volume of 669117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ultra Clean in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ultra Clean in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Ultra Clean from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.33.

Ultra Clean Stock Up 5.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of -13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.81 and its 200-day moving average is $27.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.21.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Ultra Clean had a positive return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 7.66%.The business had revenue of $510.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $505.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David T. Ibnale sold 23,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total value of $625,805.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 45,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,204,767.83. This represents a 34.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Ultra Clean by 35.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 25,926 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 6,841 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 16.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 198,791 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,256,000 after buying an additional 28,690 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ultra Clean by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,425 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 18.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 85,094 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 13,005 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 1,987.5% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 148,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,173,000 after acquiring an additional 141,114 shares in the last quarter. 96.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc is a global supplier of critical consumables and process tools for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company specializes in precision parts cleaning, chemical–mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries, surface conditioning pads, and specialty components used in wafer fabrication and advanced packaging. Ultra Clean also provides assembly and test hardware, tooling, and automated modules designed to support complex front-end and back-end processes in semiconductor fabs.

Ultra Clean’s product portfolio encompasses a range of cleaning systems and consumables aimed at particle and film removal, as well as CMP slurries and pads that are engineered for uniform material removal and planarization.