STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Buy Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on STM. Bank of America cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Craig Hallum dropped their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 8.5 %

Shares of STMicroelectronics stock opened at $26.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.63 and a 200-day moving average of $26.86. The stock has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. STMicroelectronics has a 52-week low of $21.36 and a 52-week high of $49.05. 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 (NYSE:STM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 131.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $85,232,000 after buying an additional 1,939,088 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 26.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,195,521 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $228,655,000 after buying an additional 1,719,257 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 576.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,962,000 after buying an additional 1,636,707 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 674.2% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,396,700 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $41,524,000 after buying an additional 1,216,300 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $83,165,000 after buying an additional 938,097 shares during the period. 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.