United Microelectronics Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:UMC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 14th, 2023

United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 72,164 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 4,648% compared to the average daily volume of 1,520 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on UMC shares. StockNews.com raised United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 7th. HSBC lowered United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $6.80 to $6.46 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.46.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UMC. Macquarie Group Ltd. bought a new position in United Microelectronics in the first quarter worth $81,057,000. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in United Microelectronics in the fourth quarter worth $42,960,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in United Microelectronics by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,487,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $75,012,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472,138 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,587,234 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $56,075,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 116.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,583,323 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of UMC stock opened at $7.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.29. United Microelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $5.36 and a fifty-two week high of $8.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.09. The company has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.27.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 25.80% and a net margin of 30.96%. Analysts expect that United Microelectronics will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.453 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 26th. This is an increase from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.29. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.54%.

About United Microelectronics

(Get Free Report)

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.