Ethic Inc. Purchases 70,597 Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation $UMC

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in United Microelectronics by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 70,597 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 495,589 shares worth about $3.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains weak on UMC, with analysts assigning a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $8.60, despite one recent upgrade to “buy.”
• United Microelectronics reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, posting $0.20 per share versus the $0.12 consensus estimate, while revenue came in just below expectations at $1.91 billion.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 495,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,597 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $3,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 313.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,265 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised United Microelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised United Microelectronics from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $8.60 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of UMC opened at $15.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.21. United Microelectronics Corporation has a 52 week low of $6.56 and a 52 week high of $15.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.41.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 20.71%. On average, equities research analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

United Microelectronics Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed NYSE: UMC and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC's core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.

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