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

Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat 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 twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.63.

A number of research firms recently commented on SIMO. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,948 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,959 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 10,773 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 5,668 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 78.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SIMO opened at $55.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.61. Silicon Motion Technology has a twelve month low of $48.81 and a twelve month high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 11.29%. Analysts expect that Silicon Motion Technology will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor producer to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s payout ratio is currently 74.35%.

About Silicon Motion Technology

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.