STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM – Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,340,000 shares, a drop of 33.5% from the September 15th total of 11,040,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STM. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 374.5% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,010 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 29,999 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 153.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 178,483 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 108,152 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,369,273 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $118,772,000 after purchasing an additional 120,399 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in STMicroelectronics in the first quarter worth approximately $554,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 337.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 510,834 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $25,561,000 after purchasing an additional 394,147 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on STM. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $45.80 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of STMicroelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.13.

Check Out Our Latest Report on STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

NYSE:STM remained flat at $27.94 on Friday. 2,583,375 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,840,429. STMicroelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $27.44 and a fifty-two week high of $51.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.93.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 19.68%. STMicroelectronics’s revenue was down 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

See Also