STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.41, but opened at $25.58. STMicroelectronics shares last traded at $25.81, with a volume of 1,536,238 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on STM. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $23.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.11.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is 18.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in STMicroelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,108,000. GTS Securities LLC boosted its position in STMicroelectronics by 213.2% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 36,276 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 68,320 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in STMicroelectronics by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 15,156 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 2,263 shares during the period. Novem Group purchased a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $492,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in STMicroelectronics by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $83,165,000 after buying an additional 938,097 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.