STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Short Interest Update

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,740,000 shares, a growth of 20.8% from the January 31st total of 13,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 16.6% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 54,102 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,718 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 8.8% in the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 16,860 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 14.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 52,748 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 3.4% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on STM. Barclays lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of STMicroelectronics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 1.8 %

STM stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.37. The company had a trading volume of 6,015,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,463,375. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.72 and a 200 day moving average of $26.60. STMicroelectronics has a 12 month low of $21.36 and a 12 month high of $48.75. The company has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. On average, equities analysts predict that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.