Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $53.77 and last traded at $52.5770, with a volume of 223857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COHU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on Cohu and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Cohu Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.38 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.34.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. Cohu’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cohu

In other news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $2,105,079.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $608,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 343,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,103,217.28. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,212,706. Corporate insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Cohu during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cohu by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cohu during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Cohu by 45.4% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. 94.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.