QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 46,549 Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation $UMC

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management boosted its United Microelectronics stake by 115.3% in the first quarter, buying 46,549 additional shares and bringing its total to 86,927 shares worth about $781,000.
• Several other institutional investors also increased positions in UMC, while hedge funds and other institutions now own about 5.05% of the company’s stock.
• UMC reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.20 per share in its latest quarter and recently raised its annual dividend to $0.4122 per share, even as analysts maintain a generally bearish outlook with an average rating of Strong Sell.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 115.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 86,927 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,549 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in United Microelectronics by 873.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,492,466 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $64,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,486 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 4.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,388,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $56,008,000 after purchasing an additional 344,416 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 10.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in United Microelectronics by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,511,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $43,323,000 after buying an additional 1,435,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UMC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and an average price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:UMC opened at $24.93 on Friday. United Microelectronics Corporation has a one year low of $6.56 and a one year high of $28.96. 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 firm has a market cap of $62.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.70.

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

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.4122 per share. This is an increase from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.37. This represents a yield of 166.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. United Microelectronics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.23%.

About United Microelectronics

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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