BE Semiconductor Industries NV (OTCMKTS:BESIY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 650.7% in March to 6,306 shares (from 840 on March 15), though this still represents approximately 0.0% of shares outstanding and a low days-to-cover of 0.4.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed with five Buy and six Hold ratings, giving the stock an average rating of "Hold" after several recent downgrades and upgrades.
• BESIY is trading near its 12-month high at $248.90 with a market cap of $18.05 billion and a high P/E of 133.10, indicating strong recent price performance but elevated valuation metrics.

BE Semiconductor Industries NV (OTCMKTS:BESIY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,306 shares, an increase of 650.7% from the March 15th total of 840 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,090 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded BE Semiconductor Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BE Semiconductor Industries in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Berenberg Bank raised BE Semiconductor Industries to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of BE Semiconductor Industries in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised BE Semiconductor Industries to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold".

BE Semiconductor Industries Price Performance

Shares of BESIY stock traded up $4.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $248.90. The stock had a trading volume of 5,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,578. BE Semiconductor Industries has a 12-month low of $91.80 and a 12-month high of $250.60. The company has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.10 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.06. The company has a current ratio of 5.55, a quick ratio of 4.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

BE Semiconductor Industries Company Profile

BE Semiconductor Industries NV OTCMKTS: BESIY, commonly known as BESI, is a global supplier of assembly equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company designs, develops and manufactures capital equipment used in the back-end production of semiconductor devices, including die attach, wire bonding and flip chip packaging systems. BESI's platforms support a wide range of applications from memory and logic chips to advanced power devices and radio-frequency modules, enabling high precision, throughput and yield in device assembly and test processes.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Duiven, the Netherlands, BESI went public on Euronext Amsterdam in 1999.

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