Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $58.70, but opened at $54.52. Cohu shares last traded at $53.4750, with a volume of 166,565 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cohu has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.33.

Cohu Stock Down 11.6%

The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.62 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.96.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cohu news, Director Steven J. Bilodeau sold 10,257 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total transaction of $460,026.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 52,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,399.20. This trade represents a 16.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James A. Donahue sold 10,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.77, for a total transaction of $479,719.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,578 shares in the company, valued at $167,343.06. This trade represents a 74.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,016 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cohu by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 195,536 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 42,593 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Cohu during the 1st quarter worth approximately $705,000. Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Cohu by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 127,324 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,588,000 after buying an additional 37,345 shares during the period. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Cohu during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,036,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cohu by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $101,484,000 after buying an additional 57,618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.