STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered STMicroelectronics from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded STMicroelectronics from a sell rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $45.80 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com cut STMicroelectronics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $43.13.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STM opened at $27.94 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.83. The firm has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.57. STMicroelectronics has a 52 week low of $27.44 and a 52 week high of $51.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STM. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 10.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 66,113 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 6,509 shares during the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 14.9% during the third quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 22,737 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 84,213 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics during the second quarter valued at $2,280,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics during the second quarter valued at $381,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

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.