Morgan Stanley Downgrades STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) to Underweight

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.63.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

STM stock opened at $27.14 on Monday. STMicroelectronics has a 52-week low of $25.95 and a 52-week high of $51.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.02.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Analysts predict that STMicroelectronics will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is currently 12.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of STMicroelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in STMicroelectronics during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 144.2% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

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.