Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $59.30, but opened at $61.90. Cohu shares last traded at $61.89, with a volume of 77,102 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COHU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Cohu in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Cohu from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cohu currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.75.

Cohu Trading Down 5.4%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.03 and a 200 day moving average of $44.72. The company has a current ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.35 and a beta of 1.59.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $149.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.20 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 7.43% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other Cohu news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 927,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. The trade was a 4.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Andrew M. Caggia sold 15,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.74, for a total transaction of $789,138.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 64,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,351,613.72. The trade was a 19.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 88,718 shares of company stock valued at $4,266,093 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cohu

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $545,932,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cohu by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $101,484,000 after buying an additional 57,618 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Cohu by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,918,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Cohu by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,819,530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,340,000 after purchasing an additional 5,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cohu during the 4th quarter worth about $33,174,000. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cohu Company Profile

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.