Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $8.80 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Himax Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Himax Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ HIMX opened at $7.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Himax Technologies has a 1-year low of $5.12 and a 1-year high of $13.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.51 and a 200-day moving average of $7.74.

Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $215.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.10 million. Himax Technologies had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 8.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 EPS.

Himax Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.7%. Himax Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 62.22%.

Institutional Trading of Himax Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Himax Technologies by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,248 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Himax Technologies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 471,801 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Himax Technologies by 9.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,806 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Himax Technologies by 20.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Himax Technologies by 16.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,839 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 2,348 shares during the last quarter. 69.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Himax Technologies

Himax Technologies, Inc, a fabless semiconductor company, provides display imaging processing technologies in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Europe, and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Driver IC and Non-Driver Products. It offers display driver integrated circuits (ICs) and timing controllers that are used in televisions, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, and other products.