Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires 38,299 Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 32.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 157,823 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,299 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in United Microelectronics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 35,848 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in United Microelectronics by 8.2% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 23,380 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 3.1% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 63,408 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 61,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 1,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 134.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,980 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,859 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of UMC traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.53. The company had a trading volume of 6,366,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,567,912. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $7.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.96. 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 capitalization of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). United Microelectronics had a net margin of 18.97% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is an increase from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.36. This represents a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. United Microelectronics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.