United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.61, but opened at $22.49. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $22.6860, with a volume of 1,140,395 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

United Microelectronics Trading Up 5.1%

The company has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.59. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.31.

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

United Microelectronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.4122 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 28.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMC. Matthews International Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the first quarter worth $8,779,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at $3,550,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of United Microelectronics in the second quarter valued at $9,525,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,849,737 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,591,000 after purchasing an additional 333,011 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Global Management LP bought a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $1,435,000. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for customers that design and market their own chips. The company provides wafer fabrication services rather than selling semiconductor products under its own consumer brand.

UMC supports a broad range of applications, including communications, automotive systems, industrial equipment, consumer electronics and computing. Its manufacturing portfolio includes logic and mixed-signal technologies, radio-frequency processes, embedded high-voltage solutions, display-driver chips, image sensors and other specialty semiconductor technologies.