Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Cohu shares hit a new 52-week high, rising as much as $58.70 during Thursday trading and closing around $58.61, up 7.5% for the day. The move came on heavy volume of more than 1.1 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with six Buy ratings, one Hold, and one Sell, giving Cohu a Moderate Buy consensus. Recent price targets have been lifted, including TD Cowen and Jefferies setting targets at $60.
• Latest earnings showed revenue growth of 29.3% year over year to $125.12 million, but EPS missed expectations at $0.01 versus $0.03. Insiders have also been selling shares recently, including the CFO and a director.

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $58.70 and last traded at $58.6050, with a volume of 1115963 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cohu and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Cohu Stock Up 7.5%

The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of -49.22 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.80. The company has a quick ratio of 5.31, a current ratio of 6.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The business's revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cohu news, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $368,550.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,217,689.20. This trade represents a 23.23% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $608,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares in the company, valued at $16,103,217.28. This trade represents a 3.64% 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 three months, insiders sold 90,668 shares of company stock worth $4,212,706. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,960,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $101,484,000 after buying an additional 57,618 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake 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 valued at $44,642,000 after buying an additional 7,927 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $42,340,000 after buying an additional 5,439 shares during the period. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter valued at $33,174,000. 94.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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