Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Short Interest Up 21.7% in January

Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 960,800 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the January 15th total of 789,600 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 341,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SIMO opened at $56.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.79. Silicon Motion Technology has a 1 year low of $48.81 and a 1 year high of $85.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.98.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 11.29%. On average, analysts predict that Silicon Motion Technology will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor producer to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s payout ratio is currently 73.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 123.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 139.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,365 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Silicon Motion Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 78.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SIMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.63.

About Silicon Motion Technology

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.