Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.40.
KLIC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on KLIC
Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $47.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.27 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $47.21 and its 200 day moving average is $45.63. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a one year low of $38.20 and a one year high of $56.71.
Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $181.30 million during 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 quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This is an increase from Kulicke and Soffa Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's payout ratio is -66.67%.
Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
In related news, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $448,261.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,773,870.12. This represents a 10.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Chin Hu Lim sold 30,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.11, for a total transaction of $1,443,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 59,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,872,215.11. This represents a 33.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 221,121 shares of company stock worth $10,527,843 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLIC. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 17,075.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,374 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.
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