United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $15.92, but opened at $16.86. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $17.0090, with a volume of 3,493,515 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UMC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of United Microelectronics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $8.60 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $10.78 and its 200-day moving average is $9.44.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 13.67%. On average, analysts predict that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in United Microelectronics by 508.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 169,183 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,519,000 after buying an additional 141,385 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 14.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 300.5% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 87,700 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 65,800 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics in the first quarter valued at $140,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in United Microelectronics by 13.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,849,737 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,591,000 after purchasing an additional 333,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed (NYSE: UMC) and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC’s core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.