Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 798,900 shares, a decline of 18.3% from the March 15th total of 977,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 342,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Ultra Clean Stock Performance

Shares of UCTT opened at $43.79 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of -63.46 and a beta of 2.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.18 and a 200-day moving average of $34.94. Ultra Clean has a one year low of $22.15 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $444.99 million. Ultra Clean had a positive return on equity of 1.69% and a negative net margin of 1.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,360,555 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $148,869,000 after purchasing an additional 148,819 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,600,436 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $86,229,000 after buying an additional 298,675 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Ultra Clean by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,559,943 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,396,000 after buying an additional 698,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ultra Clean by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,717,639 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,060,000 after acquiring an additional 21,864 shares during the period. 96.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UCTT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ultra Clean from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ultra Clean from $32.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Ultra Clean from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ultra Clean presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.33.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc develops and supplies critical subsystems, components and parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services for the semiconductor industry in the United States and internationally. The company provides ultra-clean valves, high purity connectors, industrial process connectors and valves, pneumatic actuators, manifolds and safety solutions, hoses, pressure gauges, and gas line and component heaters; chemical delivery modules that deliver gases and reactive chemicals in a liquid or gaseous form from a centralized subsystem to the reaction chamber; and gas delivery systems, such as weldments, filters, mass flow controllers, regulators, pressure transducers and valves, component heaters, and an integrated electronic and/or pneumatic control system.