Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, an increase of 28.2% from the November 15th total of 1,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 485,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on TSEM shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Tower Semiconductor from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered Tower Semiconductor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price target on Tower Semiconductor from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tower Semiconductor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tower Semiconductor

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSEM. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the third quarter valued at $27,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 319.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,807 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 21.1% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tower Semiconductor during the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.51% of the company’s stock.

Tower Semiconductor Price Performance

Shares of Tower Semiconductor stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, hitting $49.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 494,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,195. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01 and a beta of 0.92. Tower Semiconductor has a 52-week low of $28.02 and a 52-week high of $50.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 4.89, a current ratio of 5.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.12. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The company had revenue of $370.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $370.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Tower Semiconductor will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an independent semiconductor foundry, focus on specialty process technologies to manufacture analog intensive mixed-signal semiconductor devices in Israel, the United States, Japan, Europe, and internationally. It provides various customizable process technologies, including SiGe, BiCMOS, mixed signal/CMOS, RF CMOS, CMOS image sensor, integrated power management, and MEMS.