Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Holdings in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 675,989 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after selling 243,927 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.07% of STMicroelectronics worth $16,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in STMicroelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 225.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 197.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of STMicroelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on STM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of STMicroelectronics from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.97.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STM traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,168,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,749,250. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. STMicroelectronics has a 1 year low of $17.25 and a 1 year high of $45.39. The company has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.53. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $22.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.21.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. STMicroelectronics's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.42%.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

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.