STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.67, but opened at $27.72. STMicroelectronics shares last traded at $28.09, with a volume of 3,858,879 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STM has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lowered STMicroelectronics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Dbs Bank cut STMicroelectronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded STMicroelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised STMicroelectronics from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.97.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.21. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. STMicroelectronics's payout ratio is 25.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STM. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 225.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 197.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,862 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company's stock.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.