Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $220.00.

A number of research firms have issued reports on TSM. Barclays lifted their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TSM traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.09. The company had a trading volume of 9,931,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,104,983. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a current ratio of 2.57. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a one year low of $125.78 and a one year high of $226.40. The firm has a market cap of $897.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.13. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $198.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.07.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The semiconductor company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.08. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 30.47% and a net margin of 40.51%. On average, research analysts predict that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.6855 per share. This is a boost from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's payout ratio is 30.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accel Wealth Management lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 2,037 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. FWG Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 300 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in Taiwan, China, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, the United States, and internationally. It provides a range of wafer fabrication processes, including processes to manufacture complementary metal- oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) logic, mixed-signal, radio frequency, embedded memory, bipolar CMOS mixed-signal, and others.