Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $20.06, but opened at $18.06. Photronics shares last traded at $18.02, with a volume of 322,824 shares.

The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.08). Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The firm had revenue of $210.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total transaction of $209,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 552,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,538,890. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at $470,339.68. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,548 shares of company stock valued at $1,093,093 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Photronics by 216.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Photronics by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Photronics by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,467 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Up 2.9%

The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.88.

Photronics Company Profile

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.