Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Short Interest Update

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,540,000 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the February 13th total of 2,130,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 573,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total value of $209,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 552,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,538,890. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Adam M. Lewis sold 19,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total value of $476,172.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $536,447.50. This trade represents a 47.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 126,000 shares of company stock worth $3,016,860 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Photronics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 216.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Photronics by 137.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Photronics by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $21.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 236,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 449,769. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.43. Photronics has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $212.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Analysts predict that Photronics will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Photronics

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.