Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.36, but opened at $26.32. Photronics shares last traded at $26.32, with a volume of 2,142 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th.

Photronics Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Photronics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Photronics by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,715,429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,861,000 after buying an additional 265,533 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 41.3% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 72,251 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 21,109 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Photronics by 225.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 840,538 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,805,000 after purchasing an additional 582,664 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Photronics by 5.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 149,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after buying an additional 7,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Photronics in the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.