STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.86, but opened at $27.40. STMicroelectronics shares last traded at $27.37, with a volume of 891,454 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on STM shares. Citigroup raised STMicroelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.63.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.57.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The business’s revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that STMicroelectronics will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is 12.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STM. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,195,521 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $228,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,257 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 177.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,311,888 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $90,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478,213 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 1,564,831.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,079,803 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $46,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,734 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in STMicroelectronics by 128.1% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 648,403 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $25,469,000 after buying an additional 364,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Global Management LP increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 31.3% in the first quarter. Delta Global Management LP now owns 1,047,650 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $45,300,000 after buying an additional 249,905 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About STMicroelectronics

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.