Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 303,460 Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation $UMC

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in United Microelectronics Corporation by 127.7%, owning 541,176 shares worth approximately $3.87 million after acquiring an additional 303,460 shares.
• Multiple hedge funds are also investing in United Microelectronics, with notable increases like Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosting holdings by 134.8% and GAMMA Investing LLC by 262.9% in the first quarter.
• Despite the increased institutional investment, The Goldman Sachs Group has maintained a "sell" rating on the stock, which has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target of $7.40.

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 127.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 541,176 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 303,460 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $3,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $242,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in United Microelectronics by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,288,513 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,362,000 after buying an additional 214,783 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in United Microelectronics by 262.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,108 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 8,772 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in United Microelectronics by 238.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,184,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $20,667,000 after buying an additional 2,244,574 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Stock Down 0.7%

UMC stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $6.79. 3,542,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,396,435. The firm's 50 day moving average is $7.03 and its 200 day moving average is $7.15. United Microelectronics Corporation has a twelve month low of $5.61 and a twelve month high of $8.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.06.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.02). United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 16.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.