StockNews.com Downgrades STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) to Hold

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $45.80 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered STMicroelectronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.13.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

STMicroelectronics stock opened at $27.94 on Thursday. 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 has a 52-week low of $27.44 and a 52-week high of $51.27. The firm has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.84.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 769,433 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $38,572,000 after acquiring an additional 109,477 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 374.5% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,010 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 29,999 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 153.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 178,483 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after buying an additional 108,152 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,369,273 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $118,772,000 after buying an additional 120,399 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of STMicroelectronics during the first quarter worth about $554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About STMicroelectronics

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.