Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $60.00 and last traded at $59.7040, with a volume of 343 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLIC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Friday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 0.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,972.26 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.37.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $177.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.84 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.64% and a net margin of 0.03%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is presently -4,100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.53, for a total transaction of $1,695,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 126,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,143,639.57. This represents a 19.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 23,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,067,130. This represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,004 shares of company stock valued at $1,991,450 in the last three months. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the third quarter worth $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 7,609.1% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 848 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2,665.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) is a global supplier of semiconductor and LED assembly equipment. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacture of advanced die bonding, wire bonding, flip-chip bumping and wafer-level packaging systems. Its solutions support a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, automotive, communications and other high-growth segments within the semiconductor and LED industries.

Key products include precision wire bonders for microelectronic packaging, die attach systems for chip placement, flip-chip bonders for advanced packaging architectures and LED packaging platforms that enable high-volume production of automotive and general-illumination LEDs.