Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Cohu from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cohu from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Cohu Stock Down 0.2%

COHU stock opened at $44.81 on Monday. Cohu has a 12 month low of $15.13 and a 12 month high of $46.63. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -28.18 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 6.88 and a quick ratio of 5.69.

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

Insider Activity at Cohu

In related news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $38,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 175,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,657,676. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COHU. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,960,000. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Cohu by 478.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after buying an additional 972,088 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cohu by 131.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,909,000 after buying an additional 863,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Cohu in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,859,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

About Cohu

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.