Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.33.

KLIC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Craig Hallum decreased their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 8.1% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 205,299 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,329,000 after purchasing an additional 15,350 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 813.0% in the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 95,606 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,810,000 after acquiring an additional 85,134 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 26.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 460,704 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,178,000 after buying an additional 97,278 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 8.1% in the first quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 648,357 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,619,000 after buying an additional 48,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,319,000 after buying an additional 264,638 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of KLIC traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.86. The stock had a trading volume of 639,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 488,056. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of -43.13 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a one year low of $38.20 and a one year high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $181.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.28 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 7.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.61%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post -0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -76.92%.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.