Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) Lowered to Market Perform Rating by Northland Securities

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) was downgraded by analysts at Northland Securities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. They presently have a $150.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Northland Securities’ price target would suggest a potential downside of 7.76% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CAMT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Camtek from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Camtek from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on Camtek from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Camtek from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Camtek in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.00.

Camtek Stock Performance

Camtek stock traded up $5.63 on Wednesday, hitting $162.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 498,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,461. Camtek has a one year low of $47.41 and a one year high of $170.46. The firm has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 6.52, a current ratio of 7.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $131.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.35.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.02). Camtek had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 23.82%. The company had revenue of $128.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Camtek will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Camtek

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Camtek by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 4,020,683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $422,373,000 after acquiring an additional 513,956 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in Camtek by 0.4% during the second quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,142,171 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $182,976,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. raised its position in shares of Camtek by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. now owns 2,099,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,537,000 after buying an additional 497,918 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Camtek by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,665,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,090,000 after acquiring an additional 604,097 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Camtek by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,318,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $140,205,000 after acquiring an additional 140,796 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.93% of the company’s stock.

About Camtek

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT) is a provider of automated inspection and metrology solutions for the semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) industries. The company develops, manufactures and markets a suite of inline and stand-alone systems that perform high‐resolution 2D and 3D measurements, defect review and process control. Its products are used by integrated device manufacturers, foundries, OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) providers, and PCB fabricators to optimize yield, improve product quality and reduce production costs.

Camtek’s core offerings include wafer inspection systems that detect and classify defects on patterned wafers, patterned wafer metrology tools for overlay and critical dimension measurements, and advanced packaging inspection platforms for 3D ICs and fan-out wafer-level packaging.