Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in United Microelectronics Corporation $UMC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in United Microelectronics Corporation by 9.7%, owning approximately 0.22% of the company, worth around $39.87 million after selling nearly 600,000 shares.
• United Microelectronics recently disclosed an annual dividend of $0.3661 per share, representing a yield of 460%, up from the previous $0.36.
• The company's stock performance showed a quarterly EPS of $0.12, missing estimates, with projected earnings of $0.51 for the current year.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,576,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 599,160 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.22% of United Microelectronics worth $39,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 134.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,980 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics in the first quarter worth about $80,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 262.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,108 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 8,772 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics in the first quarter worth about $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company's stock.

United Microelectronics Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:UMC traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.59. 6,930,119 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,300,447. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.13. United Microelectronics Corporation has a 52-week low of $5.61 and a 52-week high of $8.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.01.

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

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business 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 an increase from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.36. This represents a yield of 460.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. United Microelectronics's dividend payout ratio is 75.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.40.

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.