Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $59.30, but opened at $61.90. Cohu shares last traded at $61.89, with a volume of 77,102 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COHU shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Cohu in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Cohu in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $68.75.

Cohu Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.86 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 4.72, a current ratio of 5.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.27.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.12. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 1.96% and a negative net margin of 7.43%.The business had revenue of $149.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cohu

In other news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $2,105,079.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,245,597.78. The trade was a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Andrew M. Caggia sold 15,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.74, for a total transaction of $789,138.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 64,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,351,613.72. This trade represents a 19.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,975 shares of company stock worth $4,664,219 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Cohu by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Cohu by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 14,644 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Cohu by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cohu by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Cohu by 0.9% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 65,233 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.