Tower Semiconductor Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:TSEM)

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 9,694 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 199% compared to the average volume of 3,245 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSEM. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Tower Semiconductor by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Tower Semiconductor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Tower Semiconductor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,183,000. Ruggaard & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor in the fourth quarter worth $18,331,000. Institutional investors own 70.51% of the company’s stock.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Up 10.3%

TSEM stock traded up $14.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $156.65. 3,761,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,147,828. The company has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.88 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.44 and its 200-day moving average is $104.01. Tower Semiconductor has a 12 month low of $28.64 and a 12 month high of $159.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 6.48 and a quick ratio of 5.51.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. Tower Semiconductor had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 14.08%.The firm had revenue of $440.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Tower Semiconductor will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TSEM shares. Wedbush upped their target price on Tower Semiconductor from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Tower Semiconductor from $114.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Tower Semiconductor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Tower Semiconductor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.75.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor, traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TSEM, is a specialty foundry company that provides analog and mixed-signal semiconductor manufacturing services to a broad array of customers worldwide. The company focuses on delivering tailored process technologies for high-growth markets, including radio frequency (RF), power management, imaging, automotive electronics, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. By combining deep process know-how with flexible manufacturing capabilities, Tower Semiconductor supports the development and volume production of advanced semiconductor devices for fabless and integrated device manufacturer customers.

The company’s technology portfolio spans standard and specialty processes such as CMOS, BiCMOS, high-voltage, radio frequency, silicon photonics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and image sensor production.