Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 29,925 Shares of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Ultra Clean Holdings by 104.8%, now holding 58,470 shares valued at approximately $1.25 million.
• Other institutional investors also significantly increased their positions in Ultra Clean, with Shapiro Capital Management boosting its holdings by 66.8% to become a major stakeholder.
• Analysts have mixed views on Ultra Clean, with Needham & Company raising the target price to $30.00 while Oppenheimer lowered theirs to $30.00 with an 'outperform' rating.

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT - Free Report) by 104.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,470 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,925 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.13% of Ultra Clean worth $1,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ellevest Inc. boosted its position in Ultra Clean by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 13,263 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,957 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 58.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,913 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Ultra Clean during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ultra Clean by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,706 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UCTT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ultra Clean from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Ultra Clean from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Ultra Clean from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Ultra Clean from $60.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Ultra Clean Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UCTT traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.89. The stock had a trading volume of 460,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,623. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.99. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.66 and a 12-month high of $41.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.74 and a 200-day moving average of $24.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 3.06.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27. Ultra Clean had a positive return on equity of 5.32% and a negative net margin of 7.15%. The business had revenue of $518.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $500.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Ultra Clean's revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ultra Clean news, General Counsel Paul Yoonku Cho sold 4,084 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.06, for a total value of $86,009.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 23,345 shares in the company, valued at $491,645.70. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey L. Mckibben sold 6,294 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.87, for a total transaction of $131,355.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,996 shares in the company, valued at $459,056.52. This trade represents a 22.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ultra Clean Profile

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc develops and supplies critical subsystems, components and parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services for the semiconductor industry in the United States and internationally. The company provides ultra-clean valves, high purity connectors, industrial process connectors and valves, pneumatic actuators, manifolds and safety solutions, hoses, pressure gauges, and gas line and component heaters; chemical delivery modules that deliver gases and reactive chemicals in a liquid or gaseous form from a centralized subsystem to the reaction chamber; and gas delivery systems, such as weldments, filters, mass flow controllers, regulators, pressure transducers and valves, component heaters, and an integrated electronic and/or pneumatic control system.