Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Price Target Raised to $50.00 at TD Cowen

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) had its target price boosted by TD Cowen from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a hold rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Craig Hallum lowered their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:KLIC opened at $46.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.55 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 1 year low of $38.20 and a 1 year high of $56.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.27 and a 200-day moving average of $45.36.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $181.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLIC. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 127.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 14,480 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,319,000 after acquiring an additional 264,638 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 156.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 35,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 21,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,040,000 after acquiring an additional 73,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

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.