Traders Buy High Volume of United Microelectronics Call Options (NYSE:UMC)

United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 14,140 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 600% compared to the average volume of 2,019 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Microelectronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $379,000. GTS Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 119.0% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 97,052 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 52,732 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 26,989 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,249 shares in the last quarter. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $650,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in United Microelectronics by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 19,157 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,593 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

UMC stock opened at $6.99 on Wednesday. United Microelectronics has a 1 year low of $5.61 and a 1 year high of $9.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.90.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Citigroup upgraded United Microelectronics from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.40.

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.