Nomura Holdings Inc. Increases Position in United Microelectronics Corporation $UMC

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) by 360.1% during the first quarter, owning approximately 1,536,660 shares worth about $10.99 million.
• Despite this boost in holdings, Goldman Sachs maintained a "sell" rating on UMC, with analysts suggesting a consensus target price of $7.40.
• United Microelectronics recently announced an annual dividend of $0.3661, which represents a significant yield of 460.0%, up from the previous dividend of $0.36.

Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 360.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,536,660 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,202,660 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of United Microelectronics worth $10,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at 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 increased its position in United Microelectronics by 262.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,108 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 8,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in United Microelectronics by 238.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,184,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,667,000 after buying an additional 2,244,574 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

United Microelectronics Stock Up 3.5%

UMC traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.89. 5,165,361 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,186,188. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company's fifty day moving average price is $7.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.14. The company has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.06. United Microelectronics Corporation has a one year low of $5.61 and a one year high of $8.86.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.12 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a $0.3661 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 460.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This is a boost from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.36. United Microelectronics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.51%.

United Microelectronics Profile

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.