Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 37.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,450 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,105 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in United Microelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 661,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,729,000 after acquiring an additional 44,572 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in United Microelectronics by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 76,460 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 4,749 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in United Microelectronics by 45.2% in the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,065 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 6,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 38.2% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 77,678 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 21,457 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UMC shares. Wedbush cut United Microelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of United Microelectronics from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Microelectronics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UMC traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.82. 4,532,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,746,781. United Microelectronics Corporation has a 1-year low of $5.61 and a 1-year high of $8.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.64. The company has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $7.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.89.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). United Microelectronics had a net margin of 18.97% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.3661 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. This is an increase from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.36. United Microelectronics's payout ratio is presently 68.52%.

About United Microelectronics

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.