Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Camtek Put Options (NASDAQ:CAMT)

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 4,034 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 229% compared to the average daily volume of 1,225 put options.

Camtek Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAMT opened at $74.68 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.92. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 5.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Camtek has a twelve month low of $25.25 and a twelve month high of $90.54.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Camtek had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 24.93%. The firm had revenue of $88.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Camtek will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Camtek Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $1.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Camtek’s payout ratio is 82.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Camtek from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Camtek in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Camtek in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Camtek has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Camtek

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its position in Camtek by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 1,725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Camtek by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Camtek by 9.8% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,131 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Camtek by 574.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Camtek by 1.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,876 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.93% of the company’s stock.

About Camtek

Camtek Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells inspection and metrology equipment for semiconductor industry. The company provides Eagle-i, a system that delivers 2D inspection and metrology capabilities; Eagle-AP, which addresses the advanced packaging market using software and hardware technologies that deliver superior 2D and 3D inspection and metrology capabilities on the same platform; and Golden Eagle, a panel inspection and metrology system to address the challenges fanout wafer level packaging applications.