Share Repurchase Plan Authorized by Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Board of Directors

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

KLIC traded down $0.99 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.05. 575,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 492,386. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.61 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12-month low of $38.20 and a 12-month high of $56.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.35.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently -76.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on KLIC. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.33.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.