Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 201,630 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,698 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $1,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in United Microelectronics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,868,813 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $134,250,000 after buying an additional 434,018 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,435,239 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,522,000 after purchasing an additional 355,186 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 2,256.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,476,881 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,414,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,354 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the fourth quarter worth about $5,860,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in United Microelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,671,000. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UMC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded United Microelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

United Microelectronics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UMC opened at $8.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.32. United Microelectronics Co. has a 52-week low of $6.71 and a 52-week high of $9.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.12.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.01). United Microelectronics had a net margin of 24.79% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Microelectronics Co. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Microelectronics Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.356 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 2nd. United Microelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.86%.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.