United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $5.63 and last traded at $5.69, with a volume of 23572098 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on UMC. Citigroup cut shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley cut United Microelectronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $7.40 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered United Microelectronics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $6.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.53.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 129,033 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in United Microelectronics by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 23,693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 10,131 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 258,775 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after buying an additional 76,993 shares during the period. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 97,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 7,406 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, 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.