STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $23.80 and last traded at $23.80, with a volume of 89863 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup raised shares of STMicroelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Craig Hallum dropped their price target on shares of STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.11.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.84. The stock has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.52.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is 14.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STM. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in STMicroelectronics by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,718 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 6.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 469,669 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $18,449,000 after buying an additional 28,846 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 177.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,311,888 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $90,806,000 after buying an additional 1,478,213 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance bought a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics during the second quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 17.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 26,939 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.