Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• Photronics has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from six analysts, with three buys, one strong buy and two holds. The average 12-month price target is $49.33, well above the reported $30.83 share price.
• The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.50 versus the $0.40 consensus and revenue of $216.05 million, up 2.7% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 88.38% of Photronics, including a new $308.6 million BlackRock position, while insiders have sold 37,000 shares worth approximately $1.1 million over the past 90 days.

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.33.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PLAB shares. Zacks Research raised Photronics to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Photronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Photronics from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, Director Kang Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.75, for a total transaction of $307,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 337,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,373,512.50. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Han Park sold 9,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total transaction of $288,515.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,004,420. The trade was a 12.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 37,000 shares of company stock worth $1,114,265 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Photronics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Photronics during the 2nd quarter worth about $308,586,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Photronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,902,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 823,488 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $33,289,000 after acquiring an additional 202,040 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Photronics by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 775,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $24,800,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Photronics in the second quarter worth approximately $12,374,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Photronics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB opened at $30.83 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.03. Photronics has a 1-year low of $20.05 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 1.32.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.10. Photronics had a return on equity of 7.45% and a net margin of 19.05%.The firm had revenue of $216.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Photronics has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.560 EPS. Analysts forecast that Photronics will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Photronics Company Profile

Photronics, Inc NASDAQ: PLAB is a manufacturer of photomasks, precision quartz and glass plates used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and display panels during the manufacturing process. Its products are essential to the production of integrated circuits and flat-panel displays.

The company provides photomasks for a range of semiconductor applications, including advanced logic, memory and other specialized devices. It also supplies photomasks used in flat-panel display manufacturing, supporting technologies such as liquid-crystal displays and other display formats.

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