Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.36, but opened at $26.32. Photronics shares last traded at $26.32, with a volume of 2,142 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th.

Photronics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.74.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $211.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.22%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Photronics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,715,429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,861,000 after purchasing an additional 265,533 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 72,251 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 21,109 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $300,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 225.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 840,538 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,805,000 after buying an additional 582,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Photronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $268,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Photronics Company Profile

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.