Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $47.60 and last traded at $46.6030, with a volume of 9500 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on COHU shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cohu in a research note on Sunday. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Cohu from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Cohu Stock Down 4.4%

The company has a current ratio of 6.88, a quick ratio of 5.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.77 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.23.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $122.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.09 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 16.40%.Cohu’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cohu news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $38,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 175,202 shares in the company, valued at $6,657,676. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Cohu by 83.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cohu by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cohu during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.