Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.63.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SIMO. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,215 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the third quarter worth about $1,826,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 570,816 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $34,671,000 after purchasing an additional 152,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,239,574 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $136,032,000 after purchasing an additional 485,862 shares during the period. 78.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SIMO opened at $53.08 on Thursday. Silicon Motion Technology has a 12 month low of $48.81 and a 12 month high of $85.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.41.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 11.63%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Silicon Motion Technology will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s payout ratio is 74.35%.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor producer to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Company Profile

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.