United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $16.06, but opened at $14.35. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $13.8380, with a volume of 3,917,431 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UMC shares. Zacks Research cut United Microelectronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Arete Research raised United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. HSBC upgraded United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $37.42 to $33.76 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.79.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.47 and a 200-day moving average of $17.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 31.96%. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMC. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 508.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 169,183 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,519,000 after buying an additional 141,385 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $9,525,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in United Microelectronics by 115.3% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 86,927 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 46,549 shares during the last quarter. Delta Global Management LP acquired a new position in United Microelectronics during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,435,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in United Microelectronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $628,000. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corp. (NYSE:UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for other companies. As a pure-play foundry, UMC focuses on producing chips designed by customers rather than marketing its own branded semiconductor products.

The company provides wafer fabrication services across a range of process technologies, with particular expertise in specialty applications such as display driver ICs, automotive semiconductors, connectivity products, image sensors, power management components and embedded memory.