Ridgewood Investments LLC Boosts Stake in STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM)

Key Points

• Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 325.1%, acquiring an additional 10,075 shares, bringing its total holdings to 13,174 shares valued at approximately $289,000.
• STMicroelectronics reported $0.06 EPS for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations, despite revenues of $2.77 billion exceeding forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.37%, and scheduled the payout for March 31 with a record date of March 24.

Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM - Free Report) by 325.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,174 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after purchasing an additional 10,075 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC's holdings in STMicroelectronics were worth $289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of STM. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in STMicroelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,738,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 518,411 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $12,945,000 after purchasing an additional 21,983 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 207.5% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 75,211 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 50,756 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,069 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 146.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,585 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 15,190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company's stock.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:STM traded down $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.04. The stock had a trading volume of 6,072,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,628,876. STMicroelectronics N.V. has a 12-month low of $17.25 and a 12-month high of $33.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.53.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 4.55% and a net margin of 5.49%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that STMicroelectronics N.V. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. STMicroelectronics's payout ratio is currently 44.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on STM. Baird R W raised shares of STMicroelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $26.50 price target on shares of STMicroelectronics and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of STMicroelectronics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.21.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.