United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $27.73, but opened at $25.48. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $25.7430, with a volume of 3,356,805 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UMC shares. BNP Paribas Exane restated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, United Microelectronics currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.25 and a 200 day moving average of $12.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $64.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.61.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. As a group, analysts predict that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.4122 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 144.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This is a boost from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in United Microelectronics by 873.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,492,466 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in United Microelectronics by 832.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,530,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151,936 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $64,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,486 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,235,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in United Microelectronics by 2,011.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,980,820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About United Microelectronics

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.