STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Lowered to Underweight Rating by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup upgraded STMicroelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.63.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of STMicroelectronics stock traded up $0.50 on Monday, hitting $26.46. The stock had a trading volume of 875,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,942,744. The stock has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. STMicroelectronics has a twelve month low of $25.95 and a twelve month high of $51.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.32.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 13.29%. STMicroelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.76%.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STM. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in STMicroelectronics by 374.5% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,010 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $1,644,000 after buying an additional 29,999 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of STMicroelectronics during the third quarter worth approximately $1,112,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 153.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 178,483 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 108,152 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at $554,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 1,564,831.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,079,803 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $46,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,734 shares in the last quarter. 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.