Short Interest in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Drops By 14.4%

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,330,000 shares, a decrease of 14.4% from the February 13th total of 16,740,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STM opened at $24.41 on Friday. STMicroelectronics has a 1-year low of $21.36 and a 1-year high of $45.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.70 and its 200-day moving average is $26.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced 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 return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. Sell-side analysts predict that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,475,384 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $111,750,000 after buying an additional 725,684 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 131.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $85,232,000 after buying an additional 1,939,088 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $83,165,000 after buying an additional 938,097 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 576.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $47,962,000 after buying an additional 1,636,707 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,886,700 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $47,111,000 after buying an additional 490,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays downgraded STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on STMicroelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.26.

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.