United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.17 and last traded at $24.0680, with a volume of 26884603 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on UMC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $60.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.72.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 20.71%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Arax Advisory Partners boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 583.7% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 8,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 7,390 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,498 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.