STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised STMicroelectronics from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $45.80 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on STMicroelectronics from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $43.13.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STM opened at $27.94 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $31.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.60. The company has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.58. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $27.44 and a 12-month high of $51.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. STMicroelectronics’s quarterly revenue was down 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in STMicroelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 769,433 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $38,572,000 after purchasing an additional 109,477 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,601 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in STMicroelectronics by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 37,738 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 39,467 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.