United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $19.88, but opened at $20.43. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $20.3250, with a volume of 4,438,058 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on UMC shares. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research upgraded United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Arete Research upgraded United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised United Microelectronics from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.46.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter. Analysts predict that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.4122 per share. This represents a yield of 166.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This is a positive change from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. United Microelectronics’s payout ratio is presently 28.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Microelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,541 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 10,391 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $249,000. MW Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $481,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Finally, WorthPointe LLC purchased a new position in United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.