Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Photronics Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of PLAB opened at $23.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics has a 52-week low of $18.03 and a 52-week high of $34.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.10.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Photronics had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $211.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Photronics will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Photronics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 89.5% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 24,548 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 11,595 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at $249,000. Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in Photronics by 98.4% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 98,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 48,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Photronics during the 4th quarter worth $91,000. 88.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Photronics Company Profile

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.