United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC) Receives $7.40 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.40.

Several brokerages recently commented on UMC. Citigroup raised shares of United Microelectronics from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered United Microelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in United Microelectronics by 10.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $40,438,000 after acquiring an additional 537,777 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 1,794.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 62,656 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 59,349 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 46.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,435,628 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,265,000 after purchasing an additional 452,788 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in United Microelectronics by 12.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,538 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 24,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics during the first quarter valued at approximately $166,000. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Microelectronics Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of UMC stock traded up $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $7.61. 6,787,739 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,714,861. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.76. United Microelectronics has a one year low of $5.61 and a one year high of $9.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.22 and a 200-day moving average of $6.73. The company has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.15.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $57.63 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.3661 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. This is a positive change from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.36. This represents a yield of 4.6%. United Microelectronics's payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.