Arete Research Upgrades United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) to Buy

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Arete Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

UMC has been the topic of several other reports. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

United Microelectronics stock opened at $18.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.60. United Microelectronics has a one year low of $6.56 and a one year high of $28.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.50.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 33.18%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the second quarter worth about $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in United Microelectronics by 271.0% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.