BNP Paribas Exane Downgrades United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) to Underperform

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) was downgraded by investment analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. They presently have a $8.60 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 24.59% from the stock’s previous close.

UMC has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

NYSE UMC traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $11.41. 14,841,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,341,615. The company has a market cap of $28.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.40 and a 200 day moving average of $7.60. United Microelectronics has a 12-month low of $5.66 and a 12-month high of $12.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 17.08%.The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Microelectronics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in United Microelectronics by 313.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth about $77,000. MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed (NYSE: UMC) and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC’s core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.