United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• UMC shares fell sharply at the open, dropping from a previous close of $19.03 to $17.69 and last trading near $17.98.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: recent firms issued upgrades, including “buy” and “strong buy” ratings, but the overall consensus is “Reduce” with a $8.60 target price.
• UMC reported quarterly EPS of $0.53 on $2.16 billion in revenue and announced a higher annual dividend of $0.4122 per share; institutional investors collectively own 5.05% of the stock.

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $19.03, but opened at $17.69. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $17.9820, with a volume of 2,614,379 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on UMC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Microelectronics from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of United Microelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Down 3.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $22.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.14.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.00%. On average, equities analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.4122 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 166.0%. This is an increase from United Microelectronics's previous annual dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. United Microelectronics's payout ratio is currently 28.97%.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in United Microelectronics by 873.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,492,466 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $64,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,486 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 4.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,388,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $56,008,000 after purchasing an additional 344,416 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,511,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $43,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435,780 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About United Microelectronics

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.