United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $21.76, but opened at $23.63. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $23.3610, with a volume of 2,740,366 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $59.36 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.25 and its 200 day moving average is $11.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.72.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 873.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,492,466 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 832.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,530,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151,936 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $64,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,486 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in United Microelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,235,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in United Microelectronics by 2,011.2% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,980,820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,569,000 after buying an additional 1,886,996 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is 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.