United Microelectronics Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:UMC)

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 115,946 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 826% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,525 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UMC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,849,737 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,591,000 after acquiring an additional 333,011 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 393,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,640,000 after purchasing an additional 18,762 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $9,525,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in United Microelectronics by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 710,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 108,050 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in United Microelectronics by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 231,006 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,286,000 after purchasing an additional 133,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Arete Research upgraded United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $37.42 to $33.76 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research cut United Microelectronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut United Microelectronics from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.79.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UMC traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.11. 7,334,683 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,385,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 2.75. United Microelectronics has a 1 year low of $6.97 and a 1 year high of $28.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.20. The company has a market capitalization of $40.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.76.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 31.96%. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for other companies. It provides wafer fabrication and related services to fabless chip designers and integrated device manufacturers, rather than selling its own branded semiconductor products. Founded in 1980, UMC was Taiwan’s first semiconductor company. Its manufacturing and technology offerings serve applications including communications, consumer electronics, computing, automotive and industrial products.