Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) to Buy

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on STM. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna cut their target price on STMicroelectronics from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Stock Down 2.3 %

STMicroelectronics stock opened at $27.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.51. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $21.36 and a 12-month high of $49.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.70 and its 200 day moving average is $26.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share 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 predict that STMicroelectronics will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 26.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,195,521 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $228,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719,257 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,475,384 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $111,750,000 after purchasing an additional 725,684 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 131.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939,088 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $83,165,000 after buying an additional 938,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 576.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,962,000 after buying an additional 1,636,707 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

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.