Silicon Motion Technology’s (SIMO) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $70.00 target price on the semiconductor producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SIMO. Craig Hallum cut their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna cut their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Silicon Motion Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.63.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Performance

SIMO opened at $52.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.79. Silicon Motion Technology has a one year low of $48.81 and a one year high of $85.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.34.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 11.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Silicon Motion Technology will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor producer to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SIMO. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the third quarter worth about $1,826,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 21.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,016 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $12,149,000 after buying an additional 35,741 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 95.7% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 128,299 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $7,793,000 after buying an additional 62,733 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $431,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 27.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,239,574 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $136,032,000 after buying an additional 485,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.02% of the company’s stock.

Silicon Motion Technology Company Profile

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.