Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Short Interest Update

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, a drop of 6.1% from the August 15th total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 534,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 56.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,741 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $279,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $457,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 418.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 69,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 55,862 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

Shares of KLIC stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.23. The company had a trading volume of 44,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,128. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a twelve month low of $38.20 and a twelve month high of $56.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.45 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.33.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.05. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a positive return on equity of 0.61% and a negative net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $181.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -67.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.33.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

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.