Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.63.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Silicon Motion Technology Price Performance

Shares of SIMO stock opened at $56.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.44. Silicon Motion Technology has a one year low of $48.81 and a one year high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 11.29%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Silicon Motion Technology will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor producer to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s payout ratio is currently 74.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology in the third quarter valued at $1,826,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 21.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,016 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $12,149,000 after purchasing an additional 35,741 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Silicon Motion Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $431,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,239,574 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $136,032,000 after buying an additional 485,862 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,175 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.02% of the company’s stock.

About Silicon Motion Technology

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.