Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Himax shares plunged before Thursday’s open, falling from a prior close of $10.44 to an opening price of $7.73; they last traded at $7.839.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: three analysts rate the stock Hold, with an average price target of $8.00. Wall Street Zen recently downgraded its rating from Buy to Hold.
• Quarterly earnings were mixed: Himax reported EPS of $0.11, beating estimates, while revenue of $246.75 million came in slightly below expectations; revenue increased 23.9% year over year.

Shares of Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $10.44, but opened at $7.73. Himax Technologies shares last traded at $7.8390, with a volume of 1,147,253 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIMX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Himax Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Himax Technologies in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat, Himax Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.00.

Himax Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48 and a beta of 2.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $13.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.75.

Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Himax Technologies had a return on equity of 3.90% and a net margin of 4.26%. The company had revenue of $246.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $247.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Himax Technologies, Inc. will post 0.40 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Himax Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Himax Technologies by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,447,022 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $62,570,000 after purchasing an additional 882,739 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Himax Technologies by 11.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,355,718 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $50,019,000 after purchasing an additional 637,020 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Himax Technologies by 233.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 647,461 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,096,000 after purchasing an additional 453,200 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Himax Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $1,717,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in shares of Himax Technologies by 776.3% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 116,716 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 103,397 shares in the last quarter. 69.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Himax Technologies

Himax Technologies, Inc is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan. Founded in 2001, the company designs and supplies display-related integrated circuits and other semiconductor components for manufacturers of consumer electronics, automotive systems and industrial devices. Himax has been listed on the Nasdaq since 2006 under the symbol HIMX.

The company's product portfolio includes display driver ICs, timing controllers, touch and display driver integration products, and other components used in televisions, monitors, notebook computers, smartphones, tablets and automotive displays.

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