STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on STM. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised STMicroelectronics from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.50 to $45.80 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered STMicroelectronics from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Craig Hallum reduced their target price on STMicroelectronics from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, STMicroelectronics currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $43.13.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of STMicroelectronics stock opened at $27.94 on Thursday. STMicroelectronics has a 52-week low of $27.44 and a 52-week high of $51.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.35.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is 9.63%.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 10.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 66,113 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 6,509 shares in the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 14.9% in the third quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 22,737 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 2,947 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 84,213 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $2,504,000 after buying an additional 2,364 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $2,280,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $381,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.