Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Stock Price Up 6.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Tower Semiconductor shares rose 6.1% to about $241.39, despite trading volume falling 82% below its average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $316; Bank of America and Stifel initiated coverage with “Buy” ratings.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.88 in EPS versus $0.76 expected and revenue of $460.08 million, up 23.7% year over year. However, insiders sold about $45.6 million of shares over the past three months.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) shares rose 6.1% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $242.78 and last traded at $241.3860. Approximately 409,507 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,246,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. National Bank Financial raised shares of Tower Semiconductor to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Tower Semiconductor from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Bank of America started coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Friday, August 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $367.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tower Semiconductor currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $316.00.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The stock has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.86 and a beta of 0.88.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $460.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.68 million. Tower Semiconductor had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 16.94%.The company's revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tower Semiconductor

In other Tower Semiconductor news, CEO Russell Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.34, for a total transaction of $25,883,484.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,822,531.92. This trade represents a 16.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yoav Chelouche sold 232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total transaction of $49,893.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,254,834.04. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 181,767 shares of company stock worth $45,610,065 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tower Semiconductor

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the first quarter valued at about $53,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Tower Semiconductor by 230.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 334 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Tower Semiconductor during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Greenleaf Trust bought a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $141,000. 70.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is an Israel-based specialty semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers and other technology companies. Rather than selling products under a broad consumer brand, Tower provides wafer fabrication, process technology and manufacturing services tailored to customers' chip designs.

The company specializes in analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, radio-frequency components, power-management devices, CMOS image sensors and other specialty technologies.

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