Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Short Interest Up 21.7% in January

Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 960,800 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the January 15th total of 789,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 341,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of SIMO stock traded up $1.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.47. 340,774 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 408,092. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.48 and a 200 day moving average of $56.82. Silicon Motion Technology has a 52-week low of $48.81 and a 52-week high of $85.87. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 11.29%. Equities analysts predict that Silicon Motion Technology will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s payout ratio is 73.98%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 139.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,365 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in Silicon Motion Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $151,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Silicon Motion Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. 78.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SIMO shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Craig Hallum dropped their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.63.

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.