Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Cohu shares gapped up from $52.51 to an opening price of $55.51, and were last trading around $56.27 on above-average early volume.
• Recent analyst sentiment has turned more positive, with several firms raising price targets and issuing Buy ratings. The consensus rating is now Moderate Buy with an average price target of $49.00.
• The company’s latest earnings missed EPS estimates, but revenue came in above expectations and rose 29.3% year over year. Insider selling also occurred recently, though the transactions were tied to tax withholding obligations from equity awards.

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $52.51, but opened at $55.51. Cohu shares last traded at $56.2710, with a volume of 104,660 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COHU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Cohu from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price target on Cohu and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. B. Riley Financial restated a "buy" rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Cohu Trading Down 1.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.13 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 5.31, a current ratio of 6.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.33.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other Cohu news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.92, for a total value of $46,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 172,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,103,177.84. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $2,105,079.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,212,706 in the last quarter. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COHU. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Cohu during the third quarter valued at $243,960,000. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cohu during the fourth quarter valued at $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 478.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $22,612,000 after acquiring an additional 972,088 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Cohu during the first quarter valued at $23,887,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 125.5% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 955,344 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,253,000 after acquiring an additional 531,661 shares during the period. 94.67% of the stock is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.