Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 84,306 Shares of United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) by 95.9%, owning 172,220 shares valued at approximately $1.23 million after purchasing an additional 84,306 shares in the first quarter.
• The company has announced a dividend payment of $0.3661 per share, reflecting a yield of 460.0%, an increase from the previous annual dividend of $0.36.
• United Microelectronics Corporation reported earnings of $0.12 per share for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates, while revenue was $1.98 billion, significantly below expectations.

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 95.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 172,220 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 84,306 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $1,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in United Microelectronics by 8.0% during the first quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 26,781 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in United Microelectronics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,459,000. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in United Microelectronics by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 16,465 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $3,763,000. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on UMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wedbush downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of United Microelectronics stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.90. 5,000,615 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,629,408. The company has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $7.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.77. United Microelectronics Corporation has a 52 week low of $5.61 and a 52 week high of $8.95.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.88 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 16.71% and a return on equity of 11.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. Equities analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a $0.3661 dividend. This is a boost from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a yield of 460.0%. United Microelectronics's payout ratio is 75.51%.

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.