United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Up 6.1% – What’s Next?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s stock price rose 6.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $10.66 and last traded at $10.5530. Approximately 1,661,427 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 10,205,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UMC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.60 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.16.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 17.60%.The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UMC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 1,794.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 62,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 59,349 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 6,028 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of United Microelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About United Microelectronics

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.