Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Trading Up 8.4% – Still a Buy?

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) shot up 8.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $137.50 and last traded at $135.3940. 1,407,284 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 2,011,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Tower Semiconductor from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Tower Semiconductor from $114.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Tower Semiconductor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tower Semiconductor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.75.

Tower Semiconductor Stock Down 1.6%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $127.66 and a 200-day moving average of $98.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 5.51 and a current ratio of 6.48.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $440.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.81 million. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 7.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tower Semiconductor

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 3,222.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,682,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $549,779,000 after buying an additional 4,541,235 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,530,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Tower Semiconductor by 214.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,206,467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,421 shares in the last quarter. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd acquired a new stake in Tower Semiconductor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,848,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Tower Semiconductor by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,074,717 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $126,193,000 after purchasing an additional 801,820 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.51% of the company’s stock.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor, traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TSEM, is a specialty foundry company that provides analog and mixed-signal semiconductor manufacturing services to a broad array of customers worldwide. The company focuses on delivering tailored process technologies for high-growth markets, including radio frequency (RF), power management, imaging, automotive electronics, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. By combining deep process know-how with flexible manufacturing capabilities, Tower Semiconductor supports the development and volume production of advanced semiconductor devices for fabless and integrated device manufacturer customers.

The company’s technology portfolio spans standard and specialty processes such as CMOS, BiCMOS, high-voltage, radio frequency, silicon photonics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and image sensor production.