United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.47, but opened at $19.54. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $19.7810, with a volume of 1,300,534 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UMC. Arete Research upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. BNP Paribas Exane restated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded 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 issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Down 3.0%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.53. The firm has a market cap of $50.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 33.18%. As a group, research analysts expect that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.4122 per share. This is a positive change from United Microelectronics’s previous annual dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a yield of 166.0%. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 43.0% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,541 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 10,391 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $249,000. MW Advisory LLC purchased a new position in United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $481,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in United Microelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, WorthPointe LLC acquired a new position in United Microelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $257,000. Hedge funds and other 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.