Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, an increase of 13.4% from the August 31st total of 952,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 357,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cohu during the 1st quarter valued at about $755,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,165,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $147,421,000 after purchasing an additional 59,716 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Cohu by 111.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,061 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 20,549 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Cohu by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 160,259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 16,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cohu during the 1st quarter worth about $596,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup downgraded Cohu from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cohu from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Cohu Price Performance

Cohu stock opened at $25.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -514.00 and a beta of 1.53. Cohu has a one year low of $22.80 and a one year high of $36.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.09 and a current ratio of 6.95.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.03). Cohu had a negative net margin of 5.70% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $104.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.00 million. As a group, analysts predict that Cohu will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors.