Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of United Microelectronics Call Options (NYSE:UMC)

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 45,855 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,422% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,013 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of United Microelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMC. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,472 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Xponance LLC lifted its stake in United Microelectronics by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 20,494 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in United Microelectronics by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,110 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in United Microelectronics by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 15,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in United Microelectronics by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 18,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of UMC traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $9.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,904,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,197,619. United Microelectronics has a twelve month low of $5.71 and a twelve month high of $12.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.92 and a 200 day moving average of $8.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 17.60%.The company had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. United Microelectronics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

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.