Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on KLIC. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of KLIC stock opened at $46.66 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.93 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.75. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 1 year low of $38.20 and a 1 year high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is -66.67%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.37, for a total transaction of $2,782,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,692,721.32. This represents a 42.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total value of $448,261.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,916 shares in the company, valued at $3,773,870.12. This trade represents a 10.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,121 shares of company stock valued at $10,527,843 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,319,000 after buying an additional 264,638 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.3% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,111,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $50,154,000 after acquiring an additional 187,673 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,075,790 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,918,000 after purchasing an additional 291,787 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,040,000 after purchasing an additional 73,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 452,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,943 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.