Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on KLIC. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised 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 note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

KLIC stock opened at $45.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.06 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a one year low of $38.20 and a one year high of $56.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.36.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced 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). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The company had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,841,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $142,943,000 after buying an additional 128,026 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $66,319,000 after buying an additional 264,638 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,111,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $50,154,000 after buying an additional 187,673 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,075,790 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,918,000 after buying an additional 291,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% in 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 buying an additional 73,243 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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.