United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.97, but opened at $8.29. United Microelectronics shares last traded at $8.3990, with a volume of 605,916 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. 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 objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Trading Down 0.1%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.88 and its 200-day moving average is $8.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $21.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 1.16.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 17.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 873.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,464,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $74,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,492,466 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 50.7% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,403,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $64,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,486 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,388,868 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $56,008,000 after purchasing an additional 344,416 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in United Microelectronics by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,511,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $43,323,000 after buying an additional 1,435,780 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About United Microelectronics

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.