STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Rating Increased to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of STM opened at $23.92 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.10. The company has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.37. STMicroelectronics has a 1-year low of $21.36 and a 1-year high of $49.05.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.67%.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,195,521 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $228,655,000 after buying an additional 1,719,257 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 131.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $85,232,000 after buying an additional 1,939,088 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 576.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,962,000 after buying an additional 1,636,707 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,767,787 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $44,142,000 after buying an additional 858,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 674.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,396,700 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $41,524,000 after buying an additional 1,216,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.