Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Cohu has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight brokerages, with six buy ratings, one hold, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $49.00.
• Recent analyst updates were mixed but mostly constructive: Needham raised its target to $54 and Evercore set a $53 target, while Stifel also boosted its target to $34. Weiss Ratings maintained a sell rating.
• The stock recently traded near $47.14, close to its 52-week high of $52.43, after Cohu reported $0.01 EPS on revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, topping revenue estimates but missing earnings expectations.

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on COHU. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Cohu Price Performance

COHU stock opened at $47.14 on Friday. Cohu has a 12 month low of $16.46 and a 12 month high of $52.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.61 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.44 and a 200-day moving average of $30.20.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The company had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cohu will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cohu

In other Cohu news, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $368,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,689.20. The trade was a 23.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,500 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.28, for a total transaction of $76,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 173,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,907,438.56. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $512,040. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,960,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $101,484,000 after acquiring an additional 57,618 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,918,424 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $44,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,819,530 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $42,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,174,000. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company's product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.

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