United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wedbush from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Separately, Citigroup raised shares of United Microelectronics from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UMC traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.68. 2,422,997 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,404,770. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.12. United Microelectronics has a twelve month low of $5.61 and a twelve month high of $9.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $6.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.19.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 3,091.8% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 14,329,393 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $92,998,000 after purchasing an additional 13,880,446 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in United Microelectronics by 238.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,184,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,667,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244,574 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the fourth quarter worth about $12,768,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 150.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,021,849 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $13,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in United Microelectronics by 958.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 982,840 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,379,000 after purchasing an additional 889,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company's stock.

About United Microelectronics

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.