Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Lifted to Buy at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. Craig Hallum currently has $60.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 0.8 %

KLIC stock opened at $51.04 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.26. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a twelve month low of $40.20 and a twelve month high of $60.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 7.70%. The business had revenue of $202.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 20th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 4,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $199,625.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,487.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 4,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $199,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $958,487.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,094,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,556,241.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 613,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,842,000 after purchasing an additional 111,032 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,363 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 780.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 141,860 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,899,000 after purchasing an additional 125,743 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 707,299 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,396,000 after purchasing an additional 20,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 962.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 227,571 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after purchasing an additional 206,151 shares during the last quarter. 98.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through two segments, Capital Equipment, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company manufactures and sells advanced displays; die-transfer, flip-chip, and TCB advanced packaging products; ball bonder, die-attach, electronics assembly, lithography, wafer-level bonder, and wedge bonder products; consumables, such as capillaries, dicing blades, and wedge bonds; and auto offline programming, KNet PLUS, and new product introduction/manufacturing execution system software products.