United Microelectronics Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:UMC)

United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 14,140 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 600% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,019 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Citigroup upgraded United Microelectronics from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMC. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the third quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 90.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 237,027 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after buying an additional 112,624 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 192.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 300,738 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 197,998 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in United Microelectronics by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,186,187 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,988,000 after acquiring an additional 168,399 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UMC traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $7.30. The company had a trading volume of 35,424,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,889,917. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.93. The stock has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.76. United Microelectronics has a twelve month low of $5.61 and a twelve month high of $9.00.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. United Microelectronics had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 12.78%. United Microelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that United Microelectronics will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.