Brokerages Set STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Price Target at $31.26

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.26.

STM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 2.7 %

STMicroelectronics stock opened at $23.52 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.11. STMicroelectronics has a 52 week low of $21.36 and a 52 week high of $49.05.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. Analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is 18.67%.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 576.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,707 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,939,088 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 104,209 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after buying an additional 34,723 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 119,930 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after acquiring an additional 8,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in STMicroelectronics by 982.0% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 262,088 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $6,543,000 after acquiring an additional 237,865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About STMicroelectronics

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.