J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 7,487 STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,487 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SFE Investment Counsel increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 9,551 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,579 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,701 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,335 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 20,203 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised shares of STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.75.

STMicroelectronics Stock Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE STM opened at $42.14 on Thursday. STMicroelectronics has a 1 year low of $37.21 and a 1 year high of $55.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.59. The firm has a market cap of $38.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 3.17.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.70%. STMicroelectronics’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. This is a boost from STMicroelectronics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is currently 4.48%.

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.