Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,940,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the May 31st total of 2,760,000 shares. Currently, 10.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 439,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Camtek Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAMT opened at $129.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $103.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.75. Camtek has a one year low of $32.86 and a one year high of $131.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.41.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.07. Camtek had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 25.35%. The firm had revenue of $97.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.75 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Camtek will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CAMT shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Camtek from $98.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Northland Securities lowered Camtek from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Northland Capmk lowered Camtek from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Camtek in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on Camtek from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAMT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Camtek by 431.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Camtek during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,483,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Camtek during the 3rd quarter valued at $625,000. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Camtek during the 3rd quarter worth $473,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in shares of Camtek during the 3rd quarter worth $4,355,000. 41.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Camtek Company Profile

Camtek Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells inspection and metrology equipment for semiconductor industry. The company provides Eagle-i, a system that delivers 2D inspection and metrology capabilities; Eagle-AP, which addresses the advanced packaging market using software and hardware technologies that deliver superior 2D and 3D inspection and metrology capabilities on the same platform; and Golden Eagle, a panel inspection and metrology system to address the challenges fanout wafer level packaging applications.