United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.66 and last traded at $27.96, with a volume of 24123378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UMC. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Down 6.7%

The stock has a market cap of $65.17 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.57.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 20.71%. As a group, equities analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.4122 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 144.0%. This is a boost from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in United Microelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Arax Advisory Partners boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 583.7% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 8,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.