United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• United Microelectronics shares gapped down before trading, opening at $22.73 after closing at $24.92 and last trading around $23.00.
• Analyst sentiment remains weak, with multiple firms issuing hold or sell-style ratings and a consensus target price of $8.60 according to MarketBeat data.
• The company recently raised its annual dividend to $0.4122 per share, while its latest earnings beat EPS estimates at $0.20 per share, even as revenue came in slightly below expectations.

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $24.92, but opened at $22.73. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $23.0020, with a volume of 3,147,365 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UMC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business's fifty day moving average price is $21.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.58.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. On average, research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.4122 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 166.0%. This is a boost from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. United Microelectronics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UMC. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in United Microelectronics by 7.4% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 12,914 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in United Microelectronics by 271.0% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 129,895 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,472 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 20,494 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company's stock.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed NYSE: UMC and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC's core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.

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