Dark Forest Capital Management LP Purchases New Holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. $KLIC

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired 155,331 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, valued at approximately $5.1 million, representing about 0.29% ownership of the company.
• The semiconductor company reported a net margin of 0.90% and a negative return on equity of 1.06%, with quarterly earnings at $0.07 per share, beating estimates.
• Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced a quarterly dividend of $0.205 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 1,025%.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 155,331 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $5,123,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned 0.29% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 99.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,214 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 280.9% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,234 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1,763.5% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 1.1%

KLIC stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, hitting $38.21. 402,281 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 477,076. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.63 and a 1-year high of $52.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 477.63 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.84 and a 200-day moving average of $34.55.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 0.90% and a negative return on equity of 1.06%. The business had revenue of $148.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 1,025.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLIC. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.07, for a total transaction of $1,112,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,469,048.31. This represents a 16.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.