STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Short Interest Down 35.6% in March

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,230,000 shares, a decline of 35.6% from the February 28th total of 14,330,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

STMicroelectronics Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of STM traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $21.98. 6,057,738 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,000,678. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.83. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $21.30 and a 12-month high of $45.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $19.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. Sell-side analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STM. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,183 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 225.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised STMicroelectronics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on STMicroelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

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.