Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, a drop of 7.6% from the January 15th total of 1,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 321,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Cohu Price Performance

COHU stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.31. 503,411 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 392,242. The company has a market cap of $993.03 million, a P/E ratio of -19.73 and a beta of 1.45. Cohu has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $36.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.69 and a current ratio of 6.38.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.18). Cohu had a negative return on equity of 1.01% and a negative net margin of 11.35%. As a group, analysts predict that Cohu will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cohu during the third quarter worth about $528,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 10.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 624,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $16,044,000 after buying an additional 59,806 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Cohu by 219.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 27,237 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 18,709 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 286.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 107,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,771,000 after buying an additional 79,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 7.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,358,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $86,308,000 after buying an additional 224,022 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Cohu from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Cohu from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Cohu from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Craig Hallum raised shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cohu has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.57.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors.