STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.41, but opened at $25.73. STMicroelectronics shares last traded at $25.33, with a volume of 1,091,013 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered STMicroelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded STMicroelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Dbs Bank lowered STMicroelectronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on STMicroelectronics from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded STMicroelectronics from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, STMicroelectronics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.97.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The stock has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.62 and a 200 day moving average of $24.19.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. On average, analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 24th. STMicroelectronics's payout ratio is presently 25.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 148.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,650,244 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $124,055,000 after buying an additional 3,375,428 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 188.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,093,785 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $111,860,000 after buying an additional 3,325,998 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,475,384 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $111,750,000 after buying an additional 725,684 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 131.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $85,232,000 after buying an additional 1,939,088 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $83,165,000 after buying an additional 938,097 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

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.