Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX) Short Interest Down 12.2% in December

Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,760,000 shares, a drop of 12.2% from the December 15th total of 6,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Himax Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Himax Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Himax Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Himax Technologies by 90.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 4,888 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Himax Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth $115,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Himax Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $98,000. Institutional investors own 69.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Himax Technologies from $7.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Himax Technologies Price Performance

Shares of HIMX stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $8.85. 2,204,677 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,914,119. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Himax Technologies has a 12 month low of $4.80 and a 12 month high of $9.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.93 and a 200 day moving average of $6.45.

Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.93 million. Himax Technologies had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 EPS.

Himax Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Himax Technologies Company Profile

Himax Technologies, Inc, a fabless semiconductor company, provides display imaging processing technologies in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Europe, and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Driver IC and Non-Driver Products. It offers display driver integrated circuits (ICs) and timing controllers that are used in televisions, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, and other products.